Full text of "Commodore Magazine Issue 24"

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amber 1988
$2.95 US.
Canada

The Magazine for Commodore and Commodore Amiga Users

LID,

rren hl& lonely n^st tn thf ^t^«U?

tit* ufflv ducklin# (fAlchsd Ihr stAc«fnt

mmamfl

s;iA?fiiid

Software Reviews

64 & 128

Impossible t/Hssion 2

AAfllGA

Vampirei Empire
•••and more

Sl«ltp

tD[gc»iPnnF^[i][-Dmagc3

ftnmsTsmsnmm

itsAU-mBDmii

THE MAST^iRS COLLECJION

Welcome to the world

of Bantross. Where

monsters don't just

/oo/r menacing. They

lunge directly at

you, ready to wound,

paralyze or kill.

Where whistling wind,

roaring surf and echoing foot

steps mix with the sound of

your own heart pounding.
Where
earthquakes,
floods and
a treacherous
baron wreak
havoc on
entire
continents.
Where you'll

spir„chmng. need exceptional

skill, cunning and magic |l ^^
to survive. w » JR'

Youll wander through

rrmL hold

SK6S'&g=I"

3-D effects and in-
credibly realistic first
person views make
the action even more

ancient archives where toi'ches
glow against danip walls. You'll
venture into 40 levels of dun-
geons. Journey to 16 different
towns. Explore am>«terious

JoTches flicker
and crackle in the
archives, 'Jahere
youll acquire secret
:, kno'iiiledgeand ■-
strategic skills.

labyrinth. Playgames
of chance, arcade
games and far more.

The Legend of
Blacksilver provides
all the depth and
challenge worthy of

a skilled adventurer. Intrigue.

Dangfer.

Complexity.

Unparalleled

realism. All

Others are

tame by

comparison.

Advanced ijittt
Book available.
Details on
package.

HIE urwEt tmcii laom tm ami

, Scores ()/ iiiiipi' give a
global perspective.
You V see geography
change with earth-
' quakes andflood$.

To order jour preview disk,<>end a check or nwncv
order for S3.75 (Canada: add 500 (o: Legend of"
Bhicksii\er Preview Disk.Softniail Codu 155-013,
2995 Woodside Rd., Ste. 400-383, VVoodsidc,
CA 94062. Allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer
expires 3/31/90, Valid only in continenml U.S.
and Canada. Void « here prohibited. Specify:
Conmiodore 64/128.

•\pji!l'[| jtHJt(>rnpatiblt's.CoiiiniodorcfitU28,

liS.M PC and tonipaiililei. Screcjjis iiam

■ ■-^- Ciinirnodort'. i'. l9SSK|i>\,lnc.

How To Fill

Perception.

Finance.

^-'

BLOW YOUR MIND FOR ONLY $9.97

WHAT A WAY TO GO, 128!

LOADSTAR 128 is a totally
new quaiterly softwai'e
collection designed specifically
for the Commodore' 128 by the
editoi:s of LOADSTAR, the
best-selling monthly disk for
the Commodore 64. Eveiy
thi-ee month you will receive a
new 5 'A" disk filled with new
128-onlv progi-ams not found in
oui- monthly LOADSTAR
collection.

USE THE FULL
POWER OF YOUR 128

LOADSTAR 128 issue #1
contains eight gi-eat progi-ams
for your C-128. taking
advantage of the 128 featunes
like the 80-column fomiat,
lai-ger memoiy and a
moi'e powei-flil BASIC.

CONTENTS OF ISSUE #1

(.'IIAJIT 128-Ui'.si(,ni priikwsiiiiiiil
l....ki]ij;ihii.l.,.

CARBUYER'S SCIiATCHPAD

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I br\ tr> lo hli.w yi\t inviiy.

BOKIS ri-.y clusr. .Ill ii.iif levfls.

QUESTORA (.Ti'iit iifiiphic
advL-ntiirt' niinif.

POTPOURRI Ti5l ynur knowledct

iiiid (riMii hl-

80-COLirMN MONOCHROME

CABLEliiiilil VUUI-..HI1 imM..-

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VALUE FORTHE128

LOADSTAR 128 is deliv-
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issue. So order today with
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Information,

Excitement.

^ And Much.

Much More...

Every Month.

pay-lb '"'" ^""^ 95 n ''■'■'>■ '•-'^■"cs,,^ -'*•'"<' ^(^<r,

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1-800-831-2694

CommotiOTb
Commof'i'™

jpmcs. Ltd,

rm POKER

The latest multi-Dlaver multi-
format PC game from Australia Is
different to all forms of Poker.

Aussie JOKER POKER features
90 player capacity, open-ended discard
ability, selectable deck size and hands per
player, password controlled gambling system
with automatic accounts — and 5 free entry
forms for the $200,000 Aussie JOKER
POKER Contest.

Each month December 1988 through
April 1989 winners of 240 JOKER
SOFTWARE games and 4 finalists will be
randomly drawn from all entries received
that month.

With a guest, the 20 Finalists will be
flown to Las Vegas to play Aussie JOKER
POKER for a first prize of $100,000 In cash
at the Golden Nugget.

1,220 Prizes Value $200,000

1,200 Joker PC software games
at 529.95 to $49.95 dependent
on disk format. Game prizes
at sole discretion of sponsor.

JACKPd

$60,000

Cash Prizes for
Aussie JOKER POKER
Contest Grand Final:

Highest Scorer:

Second Highest Scorer:

Third Highest Scorer:

Lowest Scorer:

16 Consolation Prizes of $1,000

each to eliminated Finalists

$100,000

$5,000
$2,500
$1,500

AMIGA™

Aussie JOKER POKER is
available for SIX major PC^

if your PC has a mouse or keyboard, a mono
or color monitor and a 512K minimum ram
(except Apple II and C64/128 use 64K and
keyboard only) you and your family can
practise at home for the Las Vegas final of
the Aussie JOKER POKER contest.

Piiic includes cjii ti.iwvI f or Finalists ^nd their jl^uesti

IwonigtttB Ji:commoH:t^IionLii tn^ Golden Nu£^e1 •pX3,LIUU

(approi retjil valuer $7S0 each suDjeci to depanure points,)

All taxcfi and other expenses noi speclilled
herein ar£ sole responsibility o1 wmncffi
All winners will t>ei>allficd in writing

Suggested retail prices:
IBM & compatibles

(CGA Board required) $39.95

Amiga & Atari ST $49.95

$16 000 Macintosh (mono only) $49.95

Apple II $39.95

C64/128 $29.95

It ordering Sytclephorie ad<l $3 shippings handling and check thai
your PC meets tht minimum hardware requirements as r^ocash
reJundsapply. Warranty is limilcd 10 (ree replacement o1 faulty
products returned by prepaid po5l

Aussie JOKER POKER Contest Rules

1. No purchase necessary to enter

2. Void wheie prohibited by slate or federal iaw.

3- To enter, simply complete anti return the the official
entry form.

4. Limit five entries per family Of household. Five free
entry forms and full contest rules are included with
Aussie Joker Poher" or may be obtained by seniting
a stamped self-addressed envelope larger than
&W • 7V2' with ii hand written request to: Aussie
Joiner Poker Contest En try forms. P.O Box 22381,
Gilroy, CA95021-2381. Mail-in ropucsts Hmited to
one per name, household or family and must be
received no later than 3/3 1;89, WA & VT re sidents
need not include return postage. Full rules also
available from participating Mindscape retailers.

5. Monthly entries must be received no later than the
last day ot the month in which a drawing will take
place in order to participate in the month's drawing.
Drawings will be held from December, 1988
through April 1989, inclusive, Finalenlriesmustbe
received by 4/30/89.

6. Contest open to leKal residents of the U.S.A. and
Canada (other than Quebec).

7. Odds of winning depend on number of eligible
entries received,

8. Contest subject to complete officia I ru les .

AGamtiling Game Of SkB& Chance r

C64/128™

Another Wonder

from Down Under

IBM, AppltA Mjcimosil. Amiga. Alail ST and CSiaSajrefrjdemaihsoi leciituccil Irjdomjfhs ollntcrra[ior\al Business Mschir^e*.
Apple Computet. Inc . Commotiart Arftif^. Inc.. Alati. Inc.. and Commodore EleclronicsLtd. respecUMely ^ l^SEIJoherSoltv^a^e

SEE YOUR NEAREST MINDSCAPE
SOFTWARE RETAILER

M I N 3 S C A P E I tl C

EXCLUSIVE DISTRIBUTOR

or if not ava liable order d irect on

1-800-24-JOKER

24 hour order service
RETAILERS CALL: 1-800-221-9884

Commodore

M A G A I

DECEMBER 1988, volume 9. Number 12

N E

FEATURES

COMING ATTRACTIONS 92

In part two, John looks at upcoming releases from veterans like the

Mediagenic family, SubLogic and SSI as well as soon-io-be-

released titles from newcomers like Siient Software and First Row

Software.

by John Jermalne

COVER STORY

BUYER'S GUIDE TO THE BEST OF 1988 71

Our reviewers pick the best hardware and software products
released during the year for the Commodore 64, 128 and Amiga,

— tn

• i

U '

^^H

SOFTWARE ON THE COVER

1. Animation: Apprentice by Hash Enterprises

2. Sporting News Baseball by Epyx, Inc.

3. Robot Readers by Hilton Android Corp.

4. Skate or Die by Electronic Arts

5. Superbase Professional by Precision Software,

6. Fligiit Simulator 2 by Sublogic

7. Moebius by Origin

8. Blackjack Academy by Microlllusions

9. Migt)t and Magic by Mediagenic
10. Battledroidz by DataSoft

nc.

REVIEWS

64 AND 128 SOFTWARE REVIEWS

The Games: Winter Edition by Scott A. May
Force 7 by Mark Cotone
Impossible Mission 2 by Jeffery Scott Hall
Paperclip Publisher by Bob Guerra
Dragon's Lair by Mark CoSone

20
22
26
28
30

AMIGA SOFTWARE REVIEWS

Vampire's Empire by Jeffery Scolt Hall
Softwood File IISG by En/in Bobo
Spellbound by Gary V. Fields
VIordPlex by Gary v. Fields
Ebonstar by Grafiam Kirjsey

32
36
38
40
42

DEPARTMENH

LETTERS
NEWS

TIPS & TRICKS

Hints for Fun and Utility

Compiled by Louis F Sander
Gold Mine

Corrtpiled by Louis F. Sander

CREATIVE COURSEWARE

The "Power On" Report by Howard MiUman

PROJECTS

Sound Digitizer II byJohr} lovine

INSIDE Q-LINK

Downloading Help by Robert W. Baker

ADVENTURE ROAD

Staying Alive by Stiay Addams

4
8

AMIGA UPDATE

Amiga Public Domain byGraham Kinsey
Allen Hastings: Film Maker by Matthew Leeds

54
58

128 MODE

A Plethora of 128 Stuff by Mark Jordan

GRAPHICS CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENT

PUMPING GEOS

G EOS 2.0 iy War* Jordan

44
48

PROGRAMMING

Pokeless Sprites byjared Grotli
Introducing Amiga CLI Part 3 by Mike Rivers
A Beginner's Guide to Disk Files by Ivlark Jordan

104
106
110

HOW TO ENTER PROGRAMS

122

MAGAZINE ENTRY PROGRAMS

124

ADVERTISERS' INDEX

128

COMMODORE MAGAZINE 3

LEHERS

To The Editor:

There are some 480,000 amatem- radio
operators in the U.S., and millions world-
wide. For a specific technical reason,
many own a Commodore 64, even in addi-
tion to any other computer they may own.
The Commodore 64 is the ideal system in-
terface for amatem- equipment to perform
packet radio, RTTY-teletype, TV, satellite
relays, and other state-of-the-art commu-
nication needs.

Hams ready for upgi-ading to the FCC
Ejctra class license can now obtain the
new study course with sample examina-
tions on disk for the Commodore 64 for
$14.95 postpaid. Hams can contact me for
further infomiation.
Sincavlv,
Dr. G. F. SchiUing

I Amateur Radio Station A16I

\ P.O. Box 2250
Hemet, CA 92343.

To the Editor:

I enjoy your magazine ver>' much. Al-
though I am new to the ranks of your sub- :
scribers, I can only wonder why your cov- I
erage of the Amiga has expanded so,
when there is an Amiga magazine already
in print (AmigaWorld). It would make
sense to save the space for 64/128 re\iews
and progi-ams. That is the idea behind two
separate publications, right?
A Delighted but Puzzled Reader,
James D.Johnston
Mechanicsburg.PA

Editor's Respoiine:

Thank you for tlie compliments, Mr
Johnston. Your confiision is apparently
shared by others. Commodore Magazine is
a subsidiar>' of Commodore Business Ma-
chines, manufacturer of the Commodore
64, 128 and Amiga 500 and 2000. Then:
are many Commodore- and Amiga-specif-
ic publications available from third-party
publishers {AmigaWorld is published by
IDG Communications. Peterbomugh,
NH). Commodore Magazine is the only
magazine published by Commodoie, then-
fore, we cover Commodore's complete line.

To the Editor:

I just received your September issue
and read the news section, but to my dis-
may I found you made a mistake. I am re-
ferring to the page-long article on the
Consumer Electronics Show. You state
that "Carrier Command is a strategic ac-
tion game for the Amiga and Commodore
64." I am afraid Rainbirf Software has de-
cided not to release the 64 ver-sion. I would
appreciate it if you would inform youi"
readers. This infoiTnation was obtained
via a software dealer, please infoiin me if
it is incorrect.
Sincerely,
Robert Bogue
Bay City, Ml

Editor's Response:

According to our source at Rainbird,
Carrier Command for the Commodore 64
is scheduled for release in the November!
December time period. The Amiga version
has been available for a while. Yoursoff-
ware dealer may have been under the im-
pression that the two versions were to be re-
leased simultaneously. Carrier Command
for the Commodore 64 retails for $34.95.
You i7iay want to leave a copy of this Let-
ters column lying amund the house as a
hint for Santa, Robert.

To the Editor:

The October issue had the "Quest for
Sequels" aiticle by Shay Addams, as well
as the section in the "News" about new re-
leases torn Infocom. Infocom was bought
by Mediagenic, which used to be called
Activision, and that brings me to my
question, With all the talk about sequels,
and remembering that Acti\nsion released
Hacker and Hacker 11, has there been any
mention at all about a Hacker III? I would
really enjoy another adventm-e in the
same style as those first two, with their
carefully tailored sensation of stumbling
into something unexpected. All together
now: "We want Hacker III! We want
Hacker III! ..."
Sincerely,
Les heist
Alexandria, VA

Editor's Response:

At press time Activision has no plans for
a Hacker EH. But as we've said so often, if
there's a product you want, let the company
know. You can write to: Activision, 3885
Bohannon Drive, Menb Park, CA 94025.

Commodore

.Address letters for puhlinttinn (o;

Ijetters Editor, (.'mnmadnrc Magmim;

12011 Wilson Drive, West Chester, PA WM

I N

Publisher
Julie Bauer

Assistant to the Publisher
Amanda K. Wappes

Managing Editor
Jim Gracely

Editor
Susan R. West

Technical Editor
Mike i^ivers

Art Director
Gwenn Knapp

Assistant Art Director
Wilson Harp

Art Production
Bob Clark

Production Manager
Jo-Ellen Temple

Circulation
Kenneth F. Battista

ADVERTISING SALES
Rebecca Cotton Leister

Commodore Mogozine

1200 Wilson Drive

Wesl Chester, PA 1 9380

(215)431-9259

Commodore Magaiine, Volume 9, Ny ruber 12. December
1988.

Commodore Magazine is published monthly by Commo-
dore Magazine Inc., 1200 Wilson Drive, West Chester, PA
19380. U.S.A. US. subscriber rale is $35.40 per year;
Canadian subscriber rate is $45.40 per year; Overseas sub-
scriber rale is $65.00 per year. Questions concerning sub-
scription should be (tirected to Commodore Magazine Sub-
scription Department. Bos 651. Holmes, Pennsylvania
19043. Phone (800) 345-8112. In Pennsylvania (800)
662-2444. Copyright ff 1988 by Commodore Magazine Inc.
All rights reserved.

CBM, PET, VIC 20. and Commodore 64 are registered
trademarks of Commodore Electronics Ltd. Super PET and
Commodore 128 are trademarks of Commodore Electronics
Ltd, Amiga' is a registered trademark of Commodore-Amiga,

4 DECEMBER 1988

PAST DELIVERY, FREE GAMES

and LOWER PRICES

OMLy FROM tcp & C^ Commodore'

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The Complete

IBM® Compatible Machine

For The Whole Family!

$699

C' Conrihiodore'

w/o Optional Commodore 1084
Color Monitor

640K RAM/Duat Floppy Drives
Dual Speed - 4.77 & 8MHz
Parallel, Serial & Mouse Ports

Built-in Monochrome/Color

Video Card

Includes MS-DOS 3.2

With Commodore 1084 Color Monitor. .....$995

With Samsung Color Monitor $899

With Hi-Resolulion Monochrome Monitor $769

Includes GE05 & Quantum Link

C* Commodore <

128D

40 w/ 1541 II Disk Drivf?!!!S!!!!!!ISI!ISI!!!!J.. $Boi

64C w/1541 Drive &1802C Monitor $519

128K Memory
Built-in 1571
Disk Drive
Detachable Keyboard

$439

C= Commodore

1084 COLOR
MONITOR

rTTTiiTrT

640 X 400 Resolution
4 Operating Modes

128D w/Commodore 1084 Color Monitor $719

128D w/Magnavox 8762 Color Monitor $679

$299

FREE COMMODORE GAMES
WITH ANY PURCHASE!

See Following Pages For Details

MAGNAVOX 8762 ■ 640 X 240 Resolution

■ 3 Modes ■ 1 Yr Warranty $249

MAGNAVOX 8702 ■ 350 x 330 Resolution

■ Tilt Stand ■ 1 YrWarranJy J5179

COMMODORE 1802C Color Monitor J5199

O Commodore'

1351 MOUSE

Mouse & Joystick

Operation tt»firk qt;

GEOS Compatible Jjjviy,

O Commodore* 1670 C= Commodore* 1764

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SEE FOLLOWING PAGES FOR ORDERING INFORMATION

TUSSEY COMPUTER PRODUCTS

1 '800'468'9044

^ An n s

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FOR QUICK SHIP!

ACCESS

Echelon $25.95

Leader Board S22.9S

ACCOLADE

Apollo IB... $17.95

Comics $19-95

4th 4 Inches $18.95

Hard Ball S9.95

MiniputI $18 95

TB9tD>ive $18 95

ACTIONSOFT

Thjndei Choppet $18.95

Up Periscope $17.95

lACTlVISION

Air Rally St9.95

Aliens $995

Gamemaker Package

wiih ail Libraries S39.95

LaslNinja $19 95

Maniac Mansion $21.95

Music Slubio $19.96

Shanflhar $18.95

AVALON HILL

NBA $2-1.95

BRODERBUND

Cauldron $9,95

Karaleka 59.95

Lode Runner $9.95

SupattJike Challenge $12.95

Toy Shop $19.95

Ullima V NEW $34.95

CINEMAWARE

Dalentier ol the Crown $21.95

SDI $21.95

The Three Stooges .,$21,'95

COSMl

Del Con 5 $17.95

DATA EAST

Commando $13,93

Karale Champ $9.95

KidNiki $18.95

Plaioon $16,95

Speed Buggy $18.95

DatJijoFt'

Hunt For Red October ..$25.95

Ait HeaiityDungeon $26.95

Video Tills Shop S19 95

DIGITAL SOLUTIONS

Pocket V/nter 2 $32 96

Pocket Fiiar 2 $19.95

Pocket Planner 2 $34.95

Digital Superpak 2 $57.95

Pocket Writer Dictionary .$11 .95

ts&

ELELTROMC ARTS'

JoriianvsBlrcl.NEW $19,95

Bard's Tale $24.95

Bard's Tale tl $24.95

Bard's Tale III NEW$24.9S

Chessmastar 2000 $24.95

Demon Staikers $19.95

Deathtord NEWS(9.95

Double Dragon ...NEW $24.95

Dragon's Lair $19.95

Marble Madness $19.95

Mars Saga MEW $24.95

Master Ninja $19.95

Moebius $27.95

Modem Wars NEW $24.95

Pinball Construction $9,95

iScitmKSi;

Scruptes NEW $24.95

SkaiaorDie .,$19.95

SkyFosll $19.95

Strike Fleet $19,95

WorkJ ToutGott $19 95

YeagerAFT S22.9S

Wasteland NEW $24.95

C&VEHAN

UflH-LTNPICS

<^ ^.i^>^

Cavamm Ugh1yinpli:».J19.95 Monopoly. S19.95

Championship Football ....$21 .95

GBA Basketball 2 on 2 $1 1.95

Top Fuel Eliminator 517.95

INFOCOM

Beyond Zork 526.95

Hitchhiker's Guide $14,95

Impossible Mission 2....S23.95

,NEW! 200 XJ Joystick S11..95

500 XJ Joystick $14.95

CaMornia Games $22.95

Charap'ship Wraslling $13.95

Create a Calendar S18.95

Dasiroyer 523.95

4ii4 Oil-Road Racing $23.95

L. A. Crackdown . NEW 523,95

Movie Monster 512,95

Slfeei Sports Baseball $23.95

Straol Sports Basketball .. $23.95

LANCE HATNER
for the best: in sports
strate^ simulation

3 in 1 Football.,..- $29.95

Bktball. the Pro Game .529.95
Co urtside College
Basketball 529.95

MICROLEAGUE

Baseball 524.95

Wrestling St8.95

Mi^OPROSE

Slfeel Sports Football ..S23.95
Street Sports Soccer NtW 523.95

Sub Battle $23.95

Summer Games $13.95

Summer Games II S13.95

Winter Camas 513.95

World Games 513.95

FIREBIRD

Elite $11.95

Guild of Thieves S22.95

Knight ORC S24.95

Star Glider 522.95

The Sentry $24.95

J^^B

., j^

mWk

MINDSCAPE

Gauntlet $22.95

Harrier Combat Simulator $t8.9S

Indoor Sports 518.95

Paperboy $21 .95

Superstar Hockey $22.95

SIMON & SHUSTER
SiarTrak: PrometliJanAdvS19-95
Typing Tutor IV $24.95

SPECTRUM HOLOBVTE

Faton NEW 522.95

PT109 $24.95

Soko Ban $17.95

Airborne Rangers $21,95

F-15 Strike Eagle 521,95

Gunship 521,95

NATO Commander $22.95

Pirates $23.95

Red Storm Rising NEW $23.95

Silent Service $21.95

Stealth Fighter $24.95

Pool ol Radiance .new $24.95

Battles of Napoleon .NEW 532.95

B-24 $21 95

Eternal Dagger $24.95

Heroes of the Lance .NEW $24,95

Phantasie I, HI (each) $24 95

Queslron II ,.$24.95

Rings of Zilfin - $23,95

Roadwar Europa 524.95

Shard ol Spring $23 95

Wargame Const Sat $1 9.95

SUBLOGIC

1 tSOFTWABE BIMUI-ATIONSI

Jot $25.95

Flight Simulator H $31.95

Pure Stat Baseball $22.95

Pure Stat College BB S22 95

Stealth Mission 531 95

SOFTWARE

WORD PROCESSORS

Fleet Syste.m 4 $47.95

Font Master 128 $33.35

Paperclip Ml $32.95

Superscript 128 S44.9S

Term Paper Writer $29.95

Wrdwriter 128 w/spell. $31.95

SPRE/UJSIIEETS

Swittcak: 128 w.'sdwys $32.95

DATA BASES

Data Manager 128 .....$31.95

Periect Flier $19.95

Superbasa 128 $39.95

MISC. 128 SOFTWARE

Mach 128 $31.95

Partner 128 $36.95

Sylvia Porter's Personal
Finance Planner $29.95

CMS

ACCOUNTING SYSTEMS
Pkg. Price for all Modules:

CI 28 version $124.95

C64 version S1 19-95

BUSINESS

AND

PRODUCTIVITY

Vlzastare4 4K

Integrated ProiJuciivity

Package For The 64

NO W ONL Y $9.95

64 C DATABASES

Bank Slrael Filer $19.95

Data Manager II $13.95

640 SPREADSHEETS

Swiiicalc 64 wsideways ,.513 95

Sideways $12.95

640 WORD PROCESSORS

Bank Street Wiiter $29,95

Font Master II $26.95

Paperclip w.'spellpacli $29.95

Paperclip III $31-95

Word Writer III $25.95

FINANCIAL & ACCT.

Timawks Electr, ChBckbk.5U.95
Timeworks Money Mgr 514.95

MISCELLANEOUS

Estes pwr supply tor C-64 $54.95

Thinking Cap $24.95

Fast Load S23.95

Bobs Term Pro $32.95

1 LiB-'»l

^^■ifl

Batteries Inclui

Paperclip Publisher .

Berkeley Softwc

GEO Publish

..$32.95

rks

,.539.95

l.$15,95
..$25.95

..$13.95
....59.95
..$13.95

..$21.95

Broderbund

Graphics Lib'ry l.llorl

Springboard

Certificata Maker ....

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( I I M M Ck II (I K I

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NEWS • NEWS • NEWS • NEWS • NEWS • NEWS • NEWS • NEWS

'\xriag the week of August S2,
1988, MicroProse celebrated its
sixth anniversary. A number of
editors and writers from the U.S.
and England were on hand to
help celebrate the occasion and
had the opportunity to talk about
some future products.

MicroProse is a company with
a wonderfully colorful
beginning. The much-publicized
anecdote goes like this: In the
summer of 1982, Bill Stealy and
Sid Meier (both employees of
General Instruments at the time)
were playing a Bed Baron arcade
game in Las Vegas. Stealy
complained about the game, and
Meier stated he could design a
better simulation in a week.
Stealy said if Sid could make it, he
could sell it. About two months
later (the ' 'week' ' was a slight
exaggeration), during the vreek of
August 22, 1982, Sid Meier
walked up to Bill Stealy at a
shopping mall and handed him
Hellcat Ace.

In early 1983 MicroProse ■■
released three titles: Hellcat l'
Ace, Floyd of the Jungle and •
Chopper Rescue. Later that \
year. Solo night was released.
In 1984 F-IS Strike Eagle was
released in the U.S. This year,
P-IS Strike Eagle will receive
a ' 'Diamond' ' award from the
Software Publishers Association
(SPA) for 500,000 copies sold.

In 1988 MicroProse has
already released Project:
Stealth Fighter and Airborne
Banger, has Red Storm Rising
shipping now and is planning to
ship MicroProse Soccer before
the end of the year. (Both
Project! Stealth Fighter and
Airhome Ranger were reviewed
in the September 1988 issue of
Commodore Magazine. )

Project: Stealth Fighter was
released for the Commodore 64 in
the spring, and an Amiga version
will be released sometime after
the spring of 1989. By the time
the Amiga version is released, it
will be going by its new name—
F-19 Stealth. Consumer
confusion was the main reason
given for the change.

MicroProse Flying High

"Wild Bill" SWaley, PresldBnt of MICROPROSE and Jim flracely, Managing Editor of
Commodore Magazine.

Bed Storm Rising is a

submarine warfare simulation
based on the book of the same
name by Tom Clancy. The game's
premise is that the Warsaw Pact
countries have invaded Western
Europe, and you must command
an American nuclear attack

submarine against Soviet
submarines and surface ships.
You can choose four time frames
toplayin (1984, 1988, 1992,
1996), four difficulty levels, eight
different submarine classes to
command and a dozen scenarios
ranging from training
maneuvers to WW III This
product is bound to become a
classic very quickly. The controls,
options, graphics and strategy
involved create a riveting sense
of action and suspense. Because
you can play anything from a
one-on-one battle to the complete
World War III scenario, games
can last from 15 minutes to tens
of hours. (Bill Stealy claims that
by holing up in his basement and
saving the game each time he
won he was able to complete one

of the WW III scenarios in 13
hours), Watch for a complete
review in an upcoming issue.

MicroProse Soccer is the first
product from the MicroProse UK
division. This double-sided disk
wUl feature the standard 11-
player European game on one
side and the nine-
player U.S. indoor game
on the other. The game
is played from a bird's-
^e view with the ball
risLng up into the viewer's
eye on kicks. Inter
esting features uiolude
winds and weather
patterns demo I saw
was played in a thunder
storm). This game wiU
ship in October for the 64 and
sometime in early 1989 for the
Amiga.

The UK division of MicroProse
has also struck joint marketing
ventures with a number oi U.S.
software developers including
Berkeley, Cosmi and Origin
Systems. Richard Garriot and
Chris Roberts of Origin Systems
were at MicroProse to
demonstrate Ultima V and
Times of Lore,

Times of Lore is billed as an
introduction to role-playing and
adventure games with a
completely icon-driven interface.
You travel through an enormous
world gathering gold, magical
items and potions in your search
for a missing king, It is designed
for beginners to introduce

by Jim Gracely

concepts such as combat,
exploring, mapping, using
potions and spellcasting.

Ultima V is the latest and
most advanced installment of the
popular Ultima series. The story
goes like this; Lord British was
ambushed in the underworld
and is presumed dead. You and
your friends are a band of ' 'Robin
Hoods" trying to do good in a
land under a bad ruler and
marshaU law. You must destroy
the shadow lords who represent
untruth, cowardice and hatred,
and of course, attempt to discover
the fate of Lord British, An
interesting feature is that there
is almost 30 minutes of musical
score in the game with themes
for various situations. On tiie
machines that support MEDI
(including the Amiga) the scores
can be routed externally to a
MIDI device.

What can we expect from
MicroProse in the future? Well,
they don't t^ypicaUy talk about
products unto they are ready to
ship, but BEl Stealy did have this
comment to make: "Ifyou liked
Westworld— we've got a product.
Stand by for my press conference
next year."

MicroProse has one other area
of activity that is newsworthy. A
coin-op (traditional quarter-play
arcade game) division was
started last October. This
division, called MicroProse
Games, is planning to ship their
first game during the first
quarter of 1989. While no details
were given as to what the game
would be, everyone consented
that it would be some sort of
flight-related product Eugene
Lipkin, VP and General Manager
of MicroProse Games, stated that
the only rule they were Uving by
was that the machine would be
shipped to the arcade on a truck.
He claims the product wUl be
"one of the most unique products
the industry has seen in the past
couple of years." What is the
basis for that kind of statement?
A commitment to design.

MicroProse Games was started

Continued on page 10

8 DECEMBER 1988

ATHIN IHAN.

COMPUTER GAMES THAT WILL
IGNITE YOUR HOUDAYS.

NEWS • NEWS • NEWS • NEWS ■ NEWS • NEWS • NEWS • NEWS •

Continued from page 8

from the ground up and has
designed all of the hardware for
their coih-op division. The
hardware has a strong emphasis
on graphics and is ideally suited
for simulations. Two technical
terms are used to describe the
graphic capahiUties of a system;
"polygons' ' and "frames per
second.' ' The number of polygons
in each frame determines how
detailed the graphics can be,
while the number of frames per
second determines the speed and
smoothness of the images. The
MlcroProse Games hardware is
capable of 2000 polygons at 30
frames per second. As a
comparison, P-19 Stealth on an
80386 machine has 50 polygons

Trith a rate of six frames per
second. That's a 200X increase in
polygons/second! MicroProse is
currently speculating that they
wiUbe one of the major coin-op
companies by this time next year.

Of course, everyone visiting
MicroProse gets to go for a flight
on the Miss MicroProse— "'^M
Bill" Stealy's company plane. The
plane is a U.S. Navy T-28-B two-
seat fighter trainer with a
1425hp Curtiss-Wright prop
engine and a maximum speed of
350mph. Believe me, after a flight
in this aerobatic plane, flight
simulators take on a whole new
reality.

In all, MicroProse is still flying
high, and it looks like clear
sailing into 1989. Q

Jack Nicklaus'
Championship Golf

jfiuicolade has signed Jack Kicklaus to a three-year contract
to produce computer goH simulations. The first offering, Jack
Kicklaus' Greatest 18 Holes of Major Championship
Golf, is scheduled to be released for the Commodore 64 and
Amiga in time for the holiday season. The program features
mcklaus' favorite IB holes, based on the recently released videotape
from ABC Sports Video hbraiy. Players go up against Jack or four
other computerized men and women. The Commodore 64 version
retails for S29.95; the Amiga version sells for S44.95. For further
information contact: Accolade, 560 S, Winchester Blvd., Suite 20,
San Jose, CA 95128. Or caU: (408 ) 985-1700.

Special Amiga 500
System Offered

L'ommodore Business Machines, Inc. has announced a special
holiday promotion on the Amiga 500. When you purchase a special
Amiga 500 system from an authorized dealer between now and
December 31, 1988, you'll walk out with a free VCR (retail value
1400).

The special system consists of an Amiga 500 computer, 1084S
stereo color monitor, and a Software Starter Kit (which includes
entertainment, productivity, video and graphics programs).

The VCR is a full-featured HQ VCR with wireless remote control.

Commodore/Amiga dealers have details on the offer; call (800)

43-3000 to fmd the Amiga dealer near you.

Offer good while suppUes last.

Who
Framed
Roger Rabbit

it was only a matter of time , Buena Vista Software has released
Who Framed Hoger BatMt for the Commodore 64 and
Amiga. The program incorporates (what else?) splendid

animation and graphics plus
music and sound effects in
three separate game scenarios.
You can race Benny the Cab
through Tinseltovm, retrieve the
missing will and get past the evil
weasels at the cartoon Gag
Factoiy. Retail price for the
Commodore 64 version is $29.95;
for the Amiga it's $44.95. For
details contact: Buena Vista
Software, 3800 W. Alameda Ave.,
Suite 325, Buibank, CA 91505.
Phone: (818) 569-7397.

AmiEXPO

XimiEXPO was held in Chicago
at the end of July.

You would expect software
packages to outnumber hardware
packages at AmiEXPO, but in
terms of the attention-gmbbers
in Chicago, hardware won out.
WewTek, as expected, drew the
largest crowd with their already-
famous Video Toaster, This
video effectS(frame
capture'genlock device which
was made famous on PBS'
Computer Chronicles is expected
to ship in November, although
Nevrt'ek had not put a firm price
on it yet (due to volatile memory
prices). Newtek was on the verge
of releasing Di|iPalnt n, the
first major upgrade to their HAM

paint program,

Magni Systems entered the
Amiga marketplace vrith their
Model 4004 Video Graphics
System genlock system. Not only
does this genlock blow away all
other genlocks for the Amiga in
terms of price (with the Model
4004 VGS starting at S1500),
but it is also loaded with features.
For example, an input signal is
not needed in order to maintain a
stable encoder. Magni considers
the Model 4004 VGS to be the
highest quality encoder available.

ASDG was previevrLng their
color scanner package, which
consists of a hardware color
scanner by Sharp and a software
interface by ASDG. This package
allows you to scan any color page
and convert it to Amiga graphics.

Continued on page 12

10 DECEMBER 1988

JUDGE A GAME

Licensed by The Major
League Baseball Players
Association.

BYns

COVEH

"If it were any more
realistic, you 'd need
a batting helmet'.'
Gary Carter '^^^

The action-packed
statistically enhanced
computer game with all
26 major league teams,
and all the stars like
Dave Winfiel d , Ozzie
Smith, Jose Canseco,
Roger Clemens,
George Brett,
AlanlVammell
and Fernando
Valenzuela.

g»»»SEK 1 tritf I

UfK_j^«jj

h!i?t|

1_I_SL'5:

Updated roster/
Stat disks

available every ,

season.

fc 1988, Epyi, Inc.
Screens from Cominodare
version. The Sporting
News is a federally
registered tradesnarl!
of The Sportinf News
Publishing Company,
a Tinits Mirror
Company. The
Sporting News
liaseball is a
tndemvk ot
EPYX.inc.

As the pitcher, you can
throw the batter a curve,
a high hard one. Pitch j^.
him inside, outside. »?^
Even brush him back if
he's crowding the plate,
just remember, he's got
great bat control. He

might even drag
a bunt on you.

Throw it home or
hit the cutoff man.
Go for the great
catch or play it safe.
Steal a base? How
about a pitching
change? Just remem-
ber. Anything the
pros can do, you can
do. If you're good.

Available for Commodore
(i4/!2$, Apple II &
compatibles, IBM &
compatibtes

EPrx

NEWS • NEWS • NEWS • NEWS • NEWS • NEWS • NEWS • NEWS

Continued from page 10

ASDG was also showing
XwluX, an Amiga 2000 card that
has two sockets for any lEE 959
(ISBX) modules. TwlnX retails
for S329, and ASDG has three
modules that can be bought
directly for S 199 each.

Great Valley Products was
showing off their Impact line of
SCSI hard disk controllers and
hard cards. Unlike other
controllers, the Impact series
serves as both memory cards (up
to SMB per card) and as a SCSI
controller card. The Impact line
is the first SCSI card available for
the Amiga that has built-in
sockets for the 1.3 EPROMS that
are necessary for autobootmg
hard drives. GVP also bundles
some very nice software that
males installing a hard drive
much easier.

Creative MicroSystems Inc.,
makers ofKickstart Eliminator,
introduced the Processor
Accelerator. If you can't afford
to splurge for a 68020 board, this
could become your speed-up
hoard of choice. Essentially it is a
small board made by Thompson
that holds a 16 MHz 68000
(running at 14,32 Mhz) and
doubles your processor
instruction speed. Since it sits on
top of the 68000 socket, Amiga
500 and Amiga 1000 owners can
easily take advantage of this
board as well. The Processor
Accelerator retails for S199,95,

Ronin Research and
Development, makers of the
Hurricane line of 68020/68030
boards, were in the Expert
Services booth. Since Ronin uses
a daughter board to hold memory,
only one slot is taken up on the
A2000 system bus. For those who
don't want to have to purchase
their own 68020/68030, Ronin
wUl ship a Hurricane with
either a 16, 20 or 25MHz 68020
or a 16 Mhz 68030, The bare
Hurricane board, without any
processors, retails for S432, and
the 68030 add-on board retails
for S230.

Memory And Storage
Technology (MAST) were
showing a couple of unique

hardware products. Their
featured product, Whomper
Plus, is a hardware virus
protector on a printed circuit
board that plugs into the floppy
drive(s). It has LEDs to tell you
when you didn't write-protect the
disk, and when the disk is being
written to. You can tell it to
automatically protect the whole
disk from being written to, or just
track zero ( where the boot blocks
are located.) Whomper Plus
does not ' 'detect' ' a virus in any
way. It Just deals with prevention.
Wliomper Plus protects one
drive for the A500 or two drives
for the A2000 and retaUs for
S69.95. MAST was also showing
Minimegs 500, a tiny 2MB
board for the A500. Minimegs
500 uses 1MB DRAM chips and is
unique because it has an LED that
shows when the memoiy is being
accessed, Minimegs BOO uses
the ASOO's own power supply and
retails for $199 with no memory
installed.

BiH Haws' macro-language
ABEXX was the language
making the most noise at
AmiExpo.ABBXX provides the
ability to integrate apphcations
from different software vendors.
Among the software products
that support ABEXX, are
MicToFiche Filer Plus by Software
Visions , Cygn usEd Professional
hy ASDG anilAMICTem byAMIC
Development. Bill was also
showing off WSHeE, his sheU
program for the Amiga that
supports aliases, piping, an
unpUcit CD, residem commands,
AKEXX and more, AREXX and
WSHell both retaO for S49.95
each.

American PeopleLink, (or
PeopleLink for shore), widely
recognized as the online service
of choice for Amiga users, was
also present in the exhibit hall.
Steve Pietrowicz, author of the
graphical conferencmg program
ACQ was showing off its full
capabUites including the sound
effects included in version 3.0.
Already over 4000 Amiga users
have signed up to PeopleLink, and
judging from the activitir at the

booth, interset is stUl growing.

The other main development at
AmlExpo in the realm of
communications was that AMIC
Development was demonstrating
AMIGTerm (based on the award-
winning shareware terminal
program AMIC PD TERM by
David Salas ), which is a very
powerful commercial terminal
program. AMICTerm supports
custom graphics commands; for
example a circle command that
will draw a real circle on the
receiver's terminal screen. This
feature is &bug8 step from the
world of AUSI graphics!
AMICTerm should be available by
the time you read this, retailing
for S59.95.

ASDG also introduced
CygnusEd Professional, an
advanced text editor for the
Amiga. One of the dynamite
features CygnusEd
Professional has is support for
recoverable documents — the
document that is currently being
worked on will not be lost due to a
crash, even if you have never
saved it! Some of the other
features in CygnusEd
Professional include ABEXX
support, very fast scrolling,
support for up to 1000 by 800
resolution, vertical blocks and
horizontal blocks, undo, macros
and re-definable keys. CygnusEd
Professional retaEs for $99.95.

There were a few new graphics
software products. Elan Design
was showing their software
InTlsion which gives those who
own A-Squared's Live! digitizer
added power. Invlsion adds
many more live video effects,
including mirror, colorize, invert,
strobe, nuke and mosaic effects.
Invlsion displays a fuU keymap
graphically, and allows you to
custom assign keys and/or mouse
buttons to trigger any effect. You
can mix up to three pictures at
one time. Invlsion retails for
$129.

Syndesis was previewing
Interfont, which allows you to
transform 2D bitmapped fonts,
like the Workbench fonts, into an
Interfont 3D representation file

that then can be ported into
VideoScape3D ot Sculpt. 3D.
Interfont fully supports the
ColorFonts standard, Interfont
retaUs for $119.95 as a stand
alone product, or S79.95 as an
upgrade tolnterchange.

Byte-by-Byte, makers of
Sculpt/Animate 3D announced
the arrival of Sculpt 4D. Scott
Peterson, President of Byte-by-
Byte said that Sculpt 4]) is a
high-end professional version of
Sculpt/Animate 3D, New features
include a metal texture, increases
in rendering speed, a new scan
line algorithm, better anti-
aliasing and cleaner images.

Mindware International was
introducing PagePllpper Plus,
which is an animation program
with many screen special effects
like wipes and dissolves, plus fidl
AMM support and an interactive
script editor vrith a powerful help
system.

Readysoft, makers otThe 64
Emulator were pre-announcing
the Amiga version of the famous
videodisc arcade game Dragon's
Lair. The Amiga version
currently spans sbc floppy disks
(andtheReadySoft
representative said that number
m]AAincrease). Fortunately, the
representative told me that those
viho have extra memory vrill be
able io load parts of the six disks
into RAM for faster play. The
Amiga version will be shipping in
late October and will retail for
$49.93.

Starvision was introducing
■World Atlas, a geographic
information and educational
database program which
provides data on 165 countries,
WorldAtlas contains facts on
such things as population,
religion, money, border
countries, Industrial and mUitary
facts and much more. An editor is
provided. The features in World
Atlas include the abUity to
perform comparisons between all
countries hsted in the database
over the last ten years. World
Atlas will be available in
October. m

12 DECEMBER 1988

ONE
MISTAKE

.. ANorrs

U THE BIG

PANCAKE

You're at the foot of

one of the world's highest
mountains. And you're
not snapping pictures. P
Because this is the FINAL
ASSAULT. The only
mountain climbing game in
the Alps or anywhere else.

IF YOU'RE AFRAID OF
HEIGHTS, FORGET IT.

You'll experience the
terror and elation of one
of the most grueling sports
ever. And you'll be tested

every step of the way... '"'

<:■ 19SSEpi'xJnc.

Commodore 64/128.
Amiga. Apple IIGS, A;^
Atari ST, IBM fi
compalibles.
Screens from
Atari ST.

Did you pick the right
course? (There are six
treacherous possibilities.)

What about supplies?
If you run out of soup,
you'll be stuck with snow
sandwiches.

Rons

KDSEl

jaas^ssasss^

Forget your spikes or
ice picks? You could end
up a permanent part of
the scenery.

Toma^the
stakes even
higher, play with
anEPYXhigb
performance
joystick

If you have nerves of
steel, even when you're
dangling 40 feet off a cliff,
you might just be one of

the lucky few to plant
your flag at the peak,

THE GAMES

SUMMER

t^HADNTER

m^ £

You're in Seoul, Korea sweating
alongside the world's greatest athletes.
Or the Canadian Rockies facing finely-
tuned challengers who've waited a
lifetime for a shot at the gold.

You're geared up. You're set.
You're playing The Games,

SUMMER EDITION:

Eight events that test youp powep,
skill anil Buts.

Relive the heart pounding
excitement experienced by the 1988
US. Olympic team.

Sprint down a 110 meter track,
clearing hurdles in a fraction of a
second. Or jam your poie in the plant-
ing box and vault over a cross bar.

Hold a handstand in the Rings
competition, straining every muscle
in your arms. Follow up with a perfect
triple twist in the diving event.

Then try for another medal or
two in Sprint Cycling, HammerThrow,
Uneven Parallel Bars or Archery. It's
your chance to make history.

The only
computer
games
to earn an
official
licensefrom
the 1988 US.

Olympic Team.

WINTER EDITION:

Set world records without
leaving liome.

Race down a snowy slope or
jump off one. Ski a slalom or cross-
country course. Speed skate, figure
skate, cruise the luge at 95 raph.
Then see what the judges think of
your heroic efforts.

To keep your pulse racing
regardless of temperature, The
Games feature exciting sound
effects, dramatic camera angles,
first person views and 3-D imagery.

Plus the traditional pageantry
, colorful flags, opening, closing and
i'' awards ceremonies -- staged in
realistic settings.

Take on the computer or your
friends. {Up to eight can play, each
representing a different country.)
And to make the action even more
heated, play with an EPYX high
performance joystick.

■You'll find that The Games will
eep you in the mountains, in the
water and on the edge of your seat all
year long.

unodorc 64/128. Apple II & Compatibles,
idntosSi. IHM & Compatibles, .-Vmiga.

988 EPYX, Inc. AUTHORIZED

I'URSUANT TO 36 U.S.C, SECTION 380.
.Sirrecns from Conijnodore and IBM.

Compiled by Louis F. Sander

WJ'sre are the very best entries in our world-famous 1988
JLm. Programming Contest! First Prize of $100 goes to Karl
Johnson III, for his 64 Sixpack Plus. Carlos J. Velazquez wins
the $50 second prize for Reach!

IMPORTANT NOTICE: As submitted, the listing for each
contest entry fits tightly on a single saeen; many lie^words are
typed with no spaces between them. But when we prepare the list-
ings for print, spaces are inserted between keywords, to make
things easier to read.

So when you type almost any one of these pmgrams, you will
get errors because some tines don't fit the 80<baracter limit.
Wfien you etwounter such a line, just delete the spaces between
keywords, and everything will be well. Trust me.

Next month, we'll go back to our more usual potpourri of tips
and tricks. Send your submissions to:
Louis F. Sander
PO. Box 101011
Pittsbmgh. PA 15237
If you put your name and address on every piece of paper, you'll
avoid the heartbreak of being an ' Address Unknown! '

64 Sixpack Plus: This utility for the 64 gives life to the "dead"
function keys, adds a no-scroll featui^e, and allows quick cui-sor
movement to the bottom-left comer of the screen. It also allows
screen color adjustments with easy key combinations.

Written in machine language for speed, Sixpack Plus can be
used with BASIC and many machine language programs, in-
cluding the DOS 5.1 wedge utility program.

Pi-ogi-ammei-s can change the ASCII values in lines 39 and 40
to customize the hmction key commands. Each can be up to 15
charactei-s long, except for F7 (that one-screen contest limit, you
know!). But if you add another line of DATA statements and in-
crease the 204 in line 20, F7 can be made to print longer strings.

Here's a guide to the features:

1. Fl pi-ints the keyword DATA

2. F3 prints L0AD"$",8

3. F5 prints VERIFY"=^"',8

4. F7 prints LIST

5. SHIFT and SHIFT LOCK act as No-Scroll keys when us-
ing the LIST command.

6. [CTRL DOWN] moves the cursor to the bottom left "home"
position.

7. SYS 51968 makes the cm-sor disappear temporarily, let-
ting you use [COMMODORE B| to change the border color
and [COMMODORE S] to change the screen color. Press
RETURN to get your cm-sor back when you're finished.

Simultaneously pressing STOP and RESTORE will disable

Sixpack Plus; it can be reactivated by executing SYS 51968 or

SYS 52005.
Karl Johnson III
Houston, TX

?R FDR J=f^lQ68 TO J+2Pf4:READ K

:POKR J,K:NEXT
""^ SYS "^aPIWSiEND
:^1 DATA 72, nfi, 72, 152, 72, 8, 32, 228, 255,

2ni,iqi,?P(R,?,23R,^2,208,201,174,

12 DATA ^,?-^8, ^1,208,201,13,208,235,
If^q, 0, m, 1 98, /10, 1^4,168,104, 17(5,
](^4,162

31 DATA =^8, 160, 203, 142, fi, 3, 140, 7, 3,
1 20, 1*52, 7^,142,20,3,140, 21, 3, 88

34 DATA '16,72,173,14] ,2,201,1 ,240,249,
1^14,76,26,167,165,197,201,64,240,22

35 DATA 201 ,7, 240, 21, 165, 215,201,133,
240, 32, 201, 1 3d, 240, 28, 201, 135, 240,
24,201

3fi DATA 1 Ifi, 240, 20, 76, 49, 234, 166, 145,

224,251,2 08,8,162,24,160,0,24,32,

240
37 DATA 25=^,76,4^1, 234, 166, 154, 224, 3,

208,247,56,233,113,10,10,10,10,24,

105,152
3P DATA 113,251,169,203,133,252,160,0,

177, 251, 240, 225, 32, 21 0,255, 200, 208,

24fi

39 DATA fi8, 65, 84, 65, 32, 0,0, 0,0, 0,0,0,

0,0,0,0,76,79,65,68,3 4,36,34,44,56,
0,0

40 DATA 0,0,0,0,0,86,69,82,73,70,89,
34,42,14,4 4,56,0,0,0,0,0,76,73,83,
84,0

Reach! This is an unusual fast-action game with great play ap-
peal and considerable addictive potential. It lacks color, sound,
sprites and gi'aphics, but it sure doesn't lack much else!

In play, single-moving digits appeal- along the bottom of the
screen, waiting for you to launch them by pressing the spacebai'.
When you press it, the moving digit jumps upwai'd to the top of
the sciieen, where it sticks to the first thing it touches — either
the bai" at the top of the screen or a previously-launched digit.
The object of the game is to amass a high score by positioning
the digits along the top bai- in optimum positions.

Youi' score on any "launch" is detennined by the launched

Cunlinued 0)1 jiai;e 123

16 DECEMBER 1988

%. ;^L'fc.. ..-.-■ -i..

See shrapnel flying through
the air like it's the 4th qf^
uly, without a picnic. ■
If you're still floating
when it s all
over, you'll'
be honored in
a glorious,
well-deserved
victory
ration.

Commodore 64/128.
Amiga. Aran ST. IBM
rCandcompDlible?
ii.mli'ship is a traiJc
mark of Vtjlimi Hrsdli^
u^6 under license
r Milton Bradley
.'\ll rights reserved^;
Screens from
At.vi ST

Battleship. So real.
you'll taste the salt water.

Sink your opponettt faster
'^id easier tisin^ au
EPYXbigh^ ":.Jfii
perfomiancef^ - -■ j^.
joystick. ^ . ■ --'/"

Compiled by Louis F. Sander

ffere are more wonderful game tips for your 64 or 128. Many
J. J. of them also work on the Amiga, Atari, Apple or IBM ver-
sions of the softivare. With only a month between issues, we have
no way to test every tip that we print. And many of the tip.^ requiie
skill as well as plain knowledge. So don't be too upset if every
nugget doesn't work exactly as described.

Send your own gartie tips to:

The Gold Mine

P.O. Bax 101011

Pittsburgh. PA 15237
Use a separate sheet for each game, and con]bine all tips for one
game onto arte sheet. Please include your name and addrvss on
each sheet. And whatever you do, remember— Gold Mirw Rules!

Alternate Reiility: The City: A character's experience is gained
partly from combat and partly finm items found. To advance a
character quickly, save youi" potions; using potions in the same
game they are found will often have bad results.
James Jackson
Chicago, IL

Breakthru: On the first level when you get to the tunnel, you
can drive up on the wall and you won't be hit by anything in the
tunnel! Never touch the ceiling though, as you'll immediately be
killed.

On the second level, the lower bridge is easier to cross because
it has fewer and shorter breaks.
Doug Cross
Sellersburg, IN

California Games: lb score high in Suifmg, follow these direc-
tions to do a 360-degree turn in the air:

1. Build up speed; get ahead of the "tube."

2. Ride off the wave.

3. Push your button and move the joystick left.

4. Re-enter the wave at the opposite angle you left.
Justin Stephenson

Evansville, IN

Championship Wrestlinjr: Kick and punch your opponent until
his energy is low. Give him an airplane spin until the computer
automatically drops him. If he is still standing, push the joystick
toward him to give him the custom move youi" v\Testler comes

with, or give him another airplane spin. When he falls, pin him.
Nathan Jones
Baltimore, MD

Defender of the Crown: When you begin play. Conquer sur-
rounding lands and build up yom- army, including a catapult, as
soon as possible. Once you have a good-sized anny, attack one of
the Normans. Don't delay in raiding a Nornian castle by joust-
ing, raiding and the like, becau.se that gives too much time for
the NoiTTians to conquer morc land and Saxons.

Don't attack Saxons until later in the game, because they are
a great help in delaying Nonnan attacks.

Also, leave the Nornian castle on Cornwall for the last, be-
cause it is much easier to defeat and can only attack you on one
side. Remember, attacking one Norman at the beginning of the
game is much easier than ha\ing to deal with all three Nor-
mans later.

When jousting, get used to the amount of time that is avail-
able to make your shot. When you know when to shoot, press the
button while pulling the joystick downward. If you miss, you can
sometimes save yourself by lowering your pole and pressing the
button. (Remember — don't hit the horse).
Ramon L. Colirmvo
Los Angeles, C A

Deltii Patrol: Here are some hints for various stages of this

game:

Stage 4: Don't shoot the second and fourth attack waves (they

decrease your credits). Get the fish weapon, but do not get the

protector.

Stage 9: Don't shoot the thii-d and fourth attack waves.

Stage 10: You must get the multiple-fire icon so you can get past
stage 12.

Stage 11: Instead of moving aixjund the asteroids, which is al-
most always fatal, stay where you begin and keep firing.

Stage 12: Kill off the fii-st attack wave; it will get you a ci'edit.

Stage 13: Don't shoot the second and fourth attack waves.

Stage 14: Stay in the middle of the screen and keep firing; you
should get 20,000 points or more.

Stage 15: The fifth wave decreases your credits.

Contributor Unknown

Fist: When you enter a room with an opponent who seems too
powerful for you, just back out or Hip out of the room. When the

18 DECEMBER 1988

Gold Mine

I opponent's scroll disappears, walk back in. Repeat the process
until you think you can beat him.
Todd Gunnerson
Canaan, NH

Gunship: If you enjoy this popular simulation as much as I do,
then having even one of your engines shot out can be a real
downer. It can happen in any region, from Southeast Asia to
Western Europe, and all it takes is one bullet. If this happens to
you, and you just can't get the ship off the ground, jettison one or
two of youj- stores (Sidewindere, FFARS, or Hellfires). This light-
ens the load on the last strnggling engine and will allow you to
I lift off. Happy Flying!
Jason O'Brien
Medford, MA

Hardball!: If you want an edge over the computer in hitting,
here is how to get it. First play one-player mode with no Alt. Be
the visiting Champs. Substitute yom- pitcher for a non-pitcher
such as O'Brien. Then exchange positions with O'Brien and
Darien. Substitute Darien in pitching mode with another pitch-
er like Moulini, then switch O'Brien with another second base-
man like Jimenez. The result is that the pitcher has to bat for
the computer, but youi' pitcher doesn't hit. Daiien hits instead!
Thomas Obamwski
Kew Gardens, NY

Karateka; On the second level entering the castle, a biixi comes
out before each new guard and takes two arrows unless you de-
feat him. When the music warns he's coming, tiy switching to
keyboard mode. This will give you an advantage, since the key-
board is more responsive than the joystick.
Jay Lockkar
Address Unknown

Kung Fu: On the fouilh level there is an easy way to kill the
Evil Twins: punch the one on the left in the stomach,
Contributor Unknown

The Last Ninja: In the Wilderness cross the Wastelands and kill
the Samurais before you cross the water Then when you get the
Magic, you won't waste time kilHng your enemies.
Tom Moore
Schereruille, IN

Legacy of the Ancients: A Sapphire Coin and a Jeweled Crown
are located at the bottom of the Pirate's Lair Dungeon. The Sap-
phire Coin is used to open the Lost Displays, which allow you to
go to the Pegasus, the Fest and the Four Jewels Dungeon. The
Jeweled Crown is used the next time you speak to the caretak-
er—he will give you an Iron Key.
Peter Liang
Ann Arbor, MI

Legacy of the Ancients: The Seeds are located south of the 'Mip
in the Castle. When you use them, the Seeds will allow you to be
invisible so you can escape. However, if you attack a Guai'd or
open a Chest while you are invisible, the effects of the Seeds will
wear off.
Peter Liang
Ann Arbor, MI

Cunlmued on page 124

THE.MASTERS COLLECTION

FOR THOSE WHO
ALWAYS WANTED

TO SEE

THE WORLD...

BUT DIDN'T

SPECIFY

WHICH ONE.

Drop in on outer space
and explore an eerie
moonscape of monoliths
and chasms. You're drilling
release explosive vapors
on a space station where
nothing is quite what it
seems. Walls disappear
columns are really elevatore,
pyramids generate energy:

it's a complex w)rid wth
rules all its own. ..And
you'll need all the ingenuity
'^^^you can muster to master
itssecfite.

Amifta, Atari ST, Commodore
64/128, IBM &compi!tibl(s.

CiW88Epyx,IiicSacai

from IllM. Game

pfuennt licensed

from Incentiw

. Software Ltd

SoftwnieLid.

COM MODOR E M AGAZ I N E 19

64 AND 128 SOnWARE REVIEWS"

Reviewed by Scott A. May

The Games:
Winter Edition

Computer: Cominoclore 64
Publisher: Ep\-x

(iOO Galveston Dnve
Redwood City. CA S)4063

Medium: Disk

Price: ^i'1%

Charged with the 01>Tnpic fever of
Calgar>' and Seoul, EpjTC presents
The Games: Winter Edition. On the heels
of five successful titles, the tradition con-
tinues.

Although it repeats some events finom
the previous Winter Games, this is much
more than just a rehash of that title. In-
cluded here are seven events, newly de-
signed in cooperation with fomier U.S.
Olympic fbam membei-s. It is also the
first computer game to be licensed by the
U.S. Oljmpic Committee.

In less creative hands, so many van- |
ations on a single theme would spell soft-
ware overkill. But Epra keeps the com-
petitive spirit as fiiesh today as it was five
years ago. As always, it's a mixed bag of
good and bad, some events stronger than
others. But taken as a whole, these selec-
tions represent an imdgorating challenge
on pai- with the best of the series.

Once again up to eight playei-s may
compete in The Games, each representing
a countiy of their choice. Following the ex-
ceptionally well-crafted opening screens,
players ai^e presented with the familiar
options menu. Here you may compete or
practice any or all events, view the World
Records, select number of joysticks and
view opening/closing ceremonies. When
all players have signed in, The Games:
Winter Edition begins.

The Luge

The luge is to a bobsled what a jet is to
an airplane. Players compete one at a
time in this event, choosing fi-om fow
imique tracks of various diificultj'.

Eye/hand cooitlination means every-
thing in this fast-moving event. Scoring is
based on speed, and speed is achieved by
i keeping the luge dead center in the track.
Three meters at the bottom of the
screen — steer, drift and position — monitor
your movements.

Despite the detailed graphics and ani-
mation, playere should control their luge
with the meter display. Use your peripher-

POSITIOM

DRIFT

STEER

CONTESTAMT

8B.8B

32.63

Included here are seven
events, newly designed in
cooperation with former U.S.
Olympic Team members.

al vision to watch foi' cuj-ves in the track
and changes in direction.

The event breaks from realism with the
inability to crash your sled— going over
the edge or simply toppling in the middle
of the track. Knowing you can't crash re-
moves some of the thiill.

Cross Countn Skiing

This event allows one player to compete
against a computer pacer or two players to
face off head-to-head. Play en? are given a
choice of 1, 2 or 5 km i-uns.

Here players are intix)duced to the fa-
miliar "rhythm method" of joystick con-
trol u.sed repeatedly in the EpxTC Games
series. The key to success is to simply
move the joystick right and left in con-
junction with yom" on-screen skier's legs.
Holding the fire button causes the skier to
"step up" when losing gi-ound on hills and
"double pole" when descending.

Speed and endurance ai-e the name of
this game. Not exactly a thiill ing event,
playei-s should select the longest course
for the greatest challenge. In spite of
beautiful graphics and animation, it still
pales in compaiison to the Biathlon event
in Winter Games.

Figure Skating

This beautiful and complex event is un-
fortunately the game's weakest.

Players custom design their own rou-
tines, beginning with music to skate to:
fast, medium or .slow; rock, jazz, romantic
and new wa\'e. Next, as the music inlays in
the backgiTiund, choreogi-aph your routine
fiiom the eight mo%'es available. Up to ten
individual moves may be perfoiTned in a
single routine.

After mapping out your performance,
move to the aitina and recreate your mas-
terpiece on ice. The animation her'e is ab-
solutely perfect, featuring a gr-aceful fe-
male skater- spotlighted befoi^e an anxious
crowd. Even the shadow cast by the light
shift.s and changes effoiilessly.

Pi-etty graphics do not make a gi^eat
event, however'. Figm"e Skating suffer's
fixim a number of flaws. The most appai'-
ent is weak documentation, w'hich man-
ages to stumble all over itself hying to ex-
plain the impossible. And what it doesn't
want to e.xplain, it simply leaves out.
None of the skater's moves, for example,
are even mentioned in the manual.

What must have sounded good on paper
went woefully amy on the computer

' scr-een. Player's ai^e r*equired to memorize
when each move is to Ix' executed in time
with the music. Uirfortunately, all players

I chor-eograph the routines one after- an-
other By the time the last player's hit the
ice, they have little hope of i-emembering

I their moves, let alone when to execute
them.

Conlin ued nn page 1 08

20 DECEMBER 1988

X-i

TAKETHEUaV
)TOl]ROWN HANDS

What can you do about the drug
problem in America? Play LA.
Crackdown.
■f I That's what.

" You're the vet-
eran detective.
Your assign-

IlifiiarehuuM: tHJihatftti'saim'fitr.,- Al^i^-'iiL lO LW

uncover a major ring bent on dis-
tributing an evil synthetic drug.

You've got the highest of high-
tech surveillance vans to work
from. You've also got a rookie to

work with. We're talking "rookie"
rookie. Zero experience.

You'll need to architect his
every move. Witch him photograph
clues. Plant bugs.1ail suspects. And
question everyone from seedy
thugs and crooked chemists to
slick international heavies.

You'll also need to draw on
every strategy brain cell available.

If you're not thinking every minute,
you might just spend all evening
waiting on a street comer for a
suspect whds never coming.

LA. Crackdown. If you think
your nervous system can handle
the surprise action and tricky men-
tal clues, there's only
one thing you need,
to do. Move to LA.

L.A.CRACKDOWN

CitmTWHhn'tlt/lJS. mt^
i'Dm/Mitihli's, Apple It & corrifialibli's

mePYX'

64 AND 128 SOFTWARE REVIEWS"

Reviewed by Mark Cotone

Force 7

Computer: Commodore M

Publisher: DataSoft

19808 Noixlhoff Place
Chatsworth.CA 91311

Medium: Disk

Price: $19.99

If imitation is sincerely a form of flat-
tery, then I bet I can name a couple of
entertainment entrees that software pro-
grammer Ken Grant is absolutely crazy
about. Ml-. Grant is the designer of a new
action-strategy game from DataSofl
called Force 7, and after a session or two
with his contest, you'll probably get the
feeling that he's spent more than a few
afternoons at the arcade hall feeding
quarters to a Gauntlet machine, and more
than a few evenings at home running and
rerunning a copy of the Aliet^s movie
through his VCR. For if you were to flise
these two divergent hits together, you
would get the look and feel of Force 7. And
it's quite an exciting combination.

The game's action takes place on Karis,
a fictional planet out in the far reaches of
the galaxj'. A few months ago Karis sent
out an urgent distress signal, but before
any concrete details could be related
about this assault, communications sud-
denly went silent. Duly alarmed, you, the
commander of Force 7, a special crack
combat unit, hustled your troops into the
hibernation capsules of a waiting star ship
and blasted off to solve the Karis mystery.

Alien Nation Annihiliation

Improving Force Score

Before you go and blindly lead your
crew into a disastrous death trap, take a
moment or two to devise a tactical game
plan. Reflexes alone wdll not beat these
alien breeds. The i^orce 7 instruction man-
ual includes a Strategy section which is
sure to lay a good foundation for maneu-
vering and attacking. Below, Tve also add-
ed a few tips of my own to help you along.

• Whenever one of your surrogates
happens upon a room filled with ammuni-
tion or food, take the time to bring down
each member of the crew so that they can
all eat their fill and reload their weapons.
Your prudence will be rewarded during
crunch time, when you don't have to wor-
ry about anyone being fatigued or low on
supplies in the heat of battle.

• Although Alien Leaders can materi-

t^^^nf^^TT

iiaauaii

T-i:i:?l!f;Kfa'J=('IIiE

SC0REt0ei489 HU.^ .

BSKH

■oi-a

The floor plan is a maze of
rooms, corridors, doon/vays
and dead ends infested with
the most bizarre variety of
grotesque killers imaginable.

As the game begins, you and your crew
of sbc have just shaken off the cobwebs of
the suspended animation sleep. Yom' goal
is to search and rescue any and all of the
planet's human inhabitants who may
have survived. As your team is preparing
to teleport to Karis' surface, an alaiTning
discovery is made. Dming travel, it ap-
pears as if your ship encountered a dense
meteor storm, destroying all but a single
Hfe support suit. This means that only one
team member can beam down at a time,
an unfortunate twist that severely height-
ens the danger of the mission and conve-
niently transforms the game into a work-

alize anywhere — ^with a penchant for
shovring up at the most inopportune
times — their enormous size prohibits
them from pursuing your men through a
doorway. Whenever your Motion Detector
warns you of an approaching Leader,
move inside a room, fend off any menaces
that might be roaming about, and wait by
the door If the Leader appears in the
room with you, quickly duck out into the
hallway and shoot back through the open
door to cut him down, ff, on the other
hand, the Leader rises outside the room,
simply remain stationary and use the
same doorway from youi" inside position.
• In this rescue mission, although you
are obviously trying to keep all of your
soldiers healthy, it is vitally important
that you remember to keep at least one of
the three crew Blueprint Readers alive.
Without their assistance, it is impossible
to be teleported from floor to floor In ex-

able one-player contest.

On Kaiis, the search m\\ center on a
six-level fabrication plant, the only
stronghold where colonists could have pos-
sibly survived. The floor plan is a maze of
rooms, corridors, doorways and dead ends
infested with the most bizan-e variety of
grotesque killers imaginable. Not only
must you work at plotting a com-se to the
endangered humans, but you will also
have to find some way of blasting or dodg-
ing a never-ending swarm of invaders in-
tent on having you for lunch.

The most common enemy will be the
Alien Soldiers, relentless crab-like crea-
tures that move in patterned masses, con-
verging and cornering any crew member
who happens into their line of sight. Back-
ing these killers are groups of breeders
named Beating Heaits, repulsive-looking
monstere whose only known purpose is to
spawn more murdering Soldiei-s. And
even in death this enemy remains danger-
ous, for when they are killed their acid
look instantly bums holes clear through
the floor; smoldering cavities whose mere
touch can mean lights out. Frightened?
Wait. The flin's only beginning.

Even more puissant are a flock of inde-
structible bubbling balls of fire known as
Lava Monsters. These hall monitors roll
around trying to cateh you and fiy you
alive. And then there's the most threaten-
ing menace of all, the Alien Leadere.
Insect-like freaks looking remarkably

Continut'd on page 112

treme cases, it may even be necessary to
sacrifice another soldier to protect your
last Reader It may sound cmel, but the
alternative is a failed mission.

• When you are teleporting onto a new
level for the first time, always drop your-
self into an area that affords some protec-
tion and/or escape routes. Who knows
what will be waiting for you when you ma-
terialize? Ammunition supply rooms and
food storage areas are labeled on the over-
head computer maps and are usually one
ofthe safest bets.

• This final point is mentioned in the
manual's tips, but it's important enough
to be reiterated. Whenever you enter a
room full of Alien Soldiers, you can be
sure a reproducing Beating Heart is at
work nearby. She should be the number
one priority for destruction. Only after
you track and annihilate her will the
Alien Soldier generating stop. g

22 DECEMBER 1988

CAUFORMAGAMES:

:] t7iT«l y WlTrX1=T^l*TtTl : 4V

SniE OF INTENSmC

-.,.^-

.*^.

Jp*^

:t^.-

'^-i

^It ahftbeach blanket bingo.
These are radi-
cal games. Games
that take the
honorable
tradition of
Summer
Games" I and
II, Winter Games," and World
GamesT wax it down and load
it on the roof.

Try shredding the face of a
totally tubular wave. Join the
airforce in a BMX bike race.
Screech around on skates
and then rocket off the
skateboard ramp.

You'll be playing
for sponsors like
Ocean Pacific, NHS
ta Cruz, CASIO, Costa

Siirjittg. A i^)r/ tUvfitkd by^y .
ilj-baki(fBanzais Kjth a fondness for
ripping, grinding. nKdskmdding.

t^i

IjiiiiicIi a fete/h I iifl'-llii-lili :l ill! ymr

slitiU'lmin} titckvit lli^h. Ami K'ttilf yaii'ir

up llterp. dance fnv the croti'd.

Del Mar, Kawasaki, and
Spinjammer. Fer trophies _
and an overall cliampionship. \

So get air. Go crazy California games by^
Welcome to the state
of California.

1- ; ilk OmilvUhlrs, IBM& Ctimtmlil'lrs. Amiga

!CC0S4^) P?*-T^"» [»QtiE«»U

uusb-niis&iiiii Gtamsot uag s

/>./'

Sit down and grab on! You're
driving the fastest and most
beautiful machine on 4 wheels!
So kick up the engine revs, down-
shift the gears, hear the tires
squeal and grab the pavement—
on your computer!

Hot car Hot music. Hot scenery—
beaches, cities, snowy mountains,
deserts and the blonde next to
you will tempt you to take your
eyes off the road. At close to
300 KPH, our advice to you is
a 4-letter word. DON'T.

Out Run. One of the big-
gest arcade hits ever, and
Fne ultimate motor-sports
simulation. Now you can
bring the action home!
With 4.4 liters under the
hood, you're driving a
beast of a machine only
top drivers attempt to
drive. Can you handle it?
Maybe. Maybe not.

Space Harrier, You are
Harrier, the extra-terres-
trial warrior. Space is your
battlefield. Your mission
is to save the Land of
Dragons from the vicious
followers of the vile one-
eyed mammoth, Grab
your laser blaster because
fhis game is 100% action,
non-stop clashes, power-
ful combat scenes.

Alien Syndrome. Genetic
lab overrun by hideous
qrqanic mutafions! Scien-
tisfs captured! Activate the
lab's self-destruct mecha-
nism! Break in and blast
away ihe slimy hordes
and she biggest, mostgro-
tesque mufants guarding
the doors. Can you do it
before the bomb explodes?

DISTRIBUTED BY

M I N D S C A P

Viijl yourrfttQ,ttf orcolM,800-221,96B't (or VISAQrtd MflilerCord ordeti To purchase by mail, __

mont, order for S3J 95 (Oul Sun). S29 95 (Spoce Homer and AI.en Syndrome; . (C6J i CI ?a) , end S49.95 lOui Run ond Spoce Ho.rioi
■An.igoondAtqriSTl Iprui 53.00 handling lo Mrndscopo. Inc PO Bo< 1167, Norlhbrook.il 6X165 Alio" 3-5 w«eks for dd,vi

id your cord nurnber and eopiratiori dccle, theck ai

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eiy. Luwyen like this

tyred ut\iss licence Irom SeoQ Enierprpsei Ltd.. Jopcn. Oul Run ii □ tirodemork of Sega Enterpnws. Ltd, Commadore 64 and Commodore Ub are regislered
trndemcrks ol Commodore tie ctronjcs. Ud- AFari is a registered rrademcffk ond ST. 520ST. 10-40ST, and Mega are trorfemarks of Aton Corporolion. Amiga
is a registered trademark and KicitstoH is a Iraderncrk oT Comrnodore Amigo, Inc. \BM is a Irademark o! IBM Corporation. Made in U.5 A. Streen ihols

represenl Atari ST ver&ion; oihefs maj' vary.

B4 AND 128 SOnWARE REVIEWS"

Reviewed by Jeffery Scott Hall

Impossible
Mission 2

Computer: Commodore 64

Publisher: Epvx

600 Galveston Drive
Redwocxl City, CA 'Mm

IVIedium: Disk

Price: $29.95

Just when you thought you had saved us
torn the evil mastermind Elvin, along
comes Impossible Mission 2 from Epyx,
and this time he is planning to take over
the world! While the title sci-een is dis-
played, you will hear Elvin's sinister
greeting: "Another visitor! Stay a while,
stay forever!" accompanied by excellent
background music. You, as the agent's top
sleuth must enter the high-rise complex
and stop Elvin from destroying us all!

Not Just Another Deranged

Lunatic

When you think of Elvin two words
come to mind: psychotic genius. He is
smart enough to be the leading ex'pert on
robotics, computers and codes, yet evil
enough to want world dominance. There-
fore, he is entrenched on the top floor
(probably because of the lack of oxygen to
his brain) of an eight-stoiy "tower-of-
doom."

Inside this tower Elvin has constructed
his own itwms laced with sLx different
kinds of robots: secmity (shoot high elec-
trical beams at any movement near him),
minebots (drop mines which detonate
when stepped on), pestbots (ride lift plat-
forms to mess up the player's strategy),
squatbots (use them as stepping stones to
leap higher in the air), bashbots (will ei-
ther push you off a ledge or smash you
into an object), and suicidebots (the same
as a bashbot, but will kill itself with you),
lb top everything ofl', each room is a maze
in which you must maneuver to find cer-
tain important objects vital to your mis-
sion. So just what is your mission?

An Agent's Job is Never Done

When you first start the game, you will
find yourself in one of foui' different pas-
sages inside Elvin's tower of doom. Each
passage contains six different floors, in
which you will find one room to explore.
' You must ride an elevator to get fi-om floor

Impossible

Mission 2

combines a

unique blend

of strategy,

arcade action,

graphics

and sounds

to conne up

with one of

the best

game sequels

ever.

to floor Your job must be carried out in
four parts (as if one weren't enough), each
vitally important to the next.

First, you must assemble a three-digit
security code for each passage connecting
to a different area of the tower Do this by
standing in fixint of an object in a room
while pressing the joystick forward. This
causes a box to appear over the agent's
shoulder with a horizontal time line indi-
cating how long the seaixh will take for
that particular object. Once the search is
complete, you will find a passcode number,
a security terminal command icon, an ex-
tension of time, or you might \sind up
empty handed.

Second, you must seek out and open El-
vin's safes and recover the musical se-
quence which is locked inside. You will
find six different pieces of music located
throughout the complex and two duplicate
pieces to throw you off guard. Once you
have a musical sequence, you must either
record it before moving to the next pas-
sage or lose it forever (thus preventing
you fi:x)m completing the game).

Third, you must tie these musical se-
quences together to form a full melody
which opens the express doors to an eleva-
tor that will lead you to Elvin's main con- j
trol room. '

Finally, you must find the correct com-
puter terminal in Elvin's control room
that will disarm the missile launch codes
before the world (and you) are destroyed!

Sounds simple enough for someone with |

your qualifications, right? Oh, but we've
overlooked one important detail: time. All
of the above-mentioned requirements
must be completed before the missiles
launch, allowing you precisely eight hours
to stop them. If all of this sounds just too
difficult (wimp!) then perhaps we should
take a closer look at our best friend.

The Pocket Computer

Lucky for you the agency knew what
they were up against when they asked
you to stop Elvin. They have equipped you
with a highly sophisticated pocket com-
puter with many great functions to help in
your quest. Youi- pocket computer can per-
form the following fiinctions; locate you in
Elvin's complex by showing your cuiTent
position, help you assemble the passcode
which allows you to move from one pas-
sage to another, record and play back
musical sequences, and show exactly how
much time you have to complete the mis-
sion. Just how secure are you?

Your Security Blanket

Inside each room Elvin has constructed,
you will find at least one security terminal
to help make your life less stressful, lb ac-
tivate a terminal, stand in front of it and
press the joystick forward. This will call
up the security screen with six different
options. These are: reset lift platforms,
move floor segments left or right, deacti-
vate robot(s), turn lights on in darkened
ConlintieJ im page 66

26 DECEIVIBER 1988

Red §tor
Rliiin

You're captain of
an American nuclear /
attack submarine. \'^f'
And your ship is a" "^^
that stands betwe
the Russian bear and HH^omination.
Experience the pulse^lHTOlIng tension
of Red Storm Rising. . . a frighteningly
realistic blend of contemporary high
technology and classic military strategy.
Based on Tom Clancy's #1
and created, with the author, by famed
programmer/designer Sid Meier -the
mind behind F-15 Strike Eagle and
Silent Service. For the Commodore
64/128 systems and soon for IBM/PC

compatibles and App
Suggested retail price,
S44.95.

Red Storm Rising.

Find out if you have
what it takes to tackle
the Russian bear.

180 Lakefront Drive Hm

Based on the tx»k Rod Stotm Ri

^author. Copyright 1986 by Jack Ryan Enl
Software t 1988 by MicroProse Softwafi

aryland 21030

64 AND 128 SOFTWARE REVIEWS"

Paperclip
Publisher

Computer

Commodore 64

Publisher:

Elec'ti-onic Ails

1820 GatL'wav Drive

San Mateo, CA fM404

Medium:

Disk

Price:

$49.95

Desktop publishing is an application
that taxes a computer's memon' and
processing power as much as any data-
ttase or spreadsheet program. Just imag-
ine the calculations required to keep 50
pages of text and graphics in current
memorj' while accurately displaying page
layout on your screen and quickly refresh-
ing the on-sci"een image to reflect changes
to either element. Considering the inher-
ent limitations of a 64K, eight-bit ma-
chine like the Commodore 64, some would
argue that desktop publishing is an appli-
cation better left to more powerful pei-son-
al computers. Fortunately, the designers
oi Paperclip Publislw realized that, de-
spite a few limitations, the 64 is a ma-
chine that, programmed creatively, can
handle almost any job.

Paperclip Publisher comes with a clear-
ly written, well-organized manual that in-
troduces you to the prcgi-am and takes
you on a "guided tour" of its major fea-
tures. Five tutorials are included to take
you from the initial design of a newsletter,
to finishing touche.s and, ultimately, to
cranking it out on youi- printer, lb help
you get started, sample text files are in-
cluded on the progrtun disk, as well as sev-
eral examples of clip art. In addition, five
fonts — Courier, Helvetica, Times, Side-
w^ays and Sjinbol — each in foui* sizes, are
included with the progi'am.

After making a back-up copy of the pro-
gram disk (Paperclip Puhlixher is not copy
protected), specify the printer you'll be us-
ing, and creating a work disk, you can be-
gin to design and lay out the pages of you:"
publishing project. Your page can be ei-
ther letter size (8" x H"i or legal size
(8" X 14"! , or you can specify a custom page
size (smaller than 8" x 14") by clicking on
length and width arrows that alter the
page size in 'A-inch increments. (The
smallest page size you can ci-eate will de-
pend on your choice of a default printer.)
Similarly, vertical tmd horizontal margins
can be adjusted in '/-i-inch increments by
clicking on a second set of arrows.

POWE

Revolutionary Pagi

.-iTiBB.-rarflMirnM

Fortunately, the designers
realized that, despite a few
limitations, the 64 is a
machine that, programmed
creatively, can handle
almost any job.

Before adding text or graphics to your
blank pages, you must create boxes into
which your page elements w'ill be poured.
Like most Paperclip Publisher functions,
boxes are created by selecting the appro-
priate tool or icon from the right side of
the screen. The length and width of each
box can be easily adjusted to create col-
umns and graphic frames ol' any size. The
boxes you create to hold text can be linked
together so that text will flow appropriate-
ly from column to column, and even fi-om
page to page. While Papi'ivlip Puhlixher
can handle documents of up \a 50 pages, a
single document may contain only 60
boxes, so for pi-actical applications your
document's maximum number of pages
will usually \ye considerably less than 50.

The text you use to fill your boxes can
be prepared in advance using any of sev-
eral popular word processors, or created
with the program's built-in text editor.
While the text editor isn't designed to
take the place of your favorite woi-d pro-
cessor, it does provide a simple means to
enter and edit short passages on the fly. It
is here in the text editor where you may

Reviewed by Bob Guerra

also add bold, italics, underlining, super-
scripts, subscripts and several other use-
ful and decorative enhancements to your
text files. What's more, headlines of up to
250 characters can be added using the
program's '"Quicktext" tool.

Likewise, although graphic elements
can be pulled into your documents from a
variety of progi'ams such as Newsivom,
Outrageous Pages, and PrintMaster, there
is a simple gi'aphics editor included with
Papeivlip Publisher. While this is gixjat
for touching up and resizing graphics be-
fore inserting them into your documents,
you'll probably want to use a more sophis-
ticated graphics program to produce any
complex drawings fi-om scratch.

With Paperclip Puhlislier, besides sim-
ply drawing a bunch of boxes and filling
them with words and pictures, you can
choose from a wide variety of background
patterns, border styles and styles of text
alignment, and these attributes can be set
individually for each box. Unfortunately,
whatever attiibutes you assign to a box,
you can never change its square shape.
Therefore, text can't be wrapped around
irregulaiiy shaped graphics.

The only other complaint 1 have about
Paperclip Publisher is the trade-ofi'that
you must make between speed and the on-
screen display of your pages. If you choose
to have all elements within your boxes
displayed on-screen as you edit the layout,
each box has to be redrawn and every text
or graphic file used on the cuiTent page
has to be reloaded fixjm disk and i^-awn.
Needless to say, having to wait for all this
to occur each time you make a small alter-
ation can quickly kill any creative sponta-
neity you may have had at the outset of a
project. Once the contents of each box
have been formatted to your satisfaction,
however, you can choose to display only
the boxes without their contents as you
make fine adjustments to the layout.
While it would be great to see all of yom-
page elements while making these
changes, the speed you gain by emptying
the on-screen boxes is often more impor-
tant than seeing the contents of all boxes
at all times.

No matter what type of desktop pub-
lishing system you use, creating a profes-
sional-quality newsletter takes careful
planning, an eye for attractive design, and
much hard work. If you can supply these,
then Paperclip Publisher can provide the
tools you need to get the job done. B

28 DECEMBER 1988

Arcade

adventure

at its

finest...

Fantasy
role-
playing
at its best!

Fast-paced, exciting
combat demands the
use of all your wits
and endurance to best
a world teeming with
assassins, wizards
and monsters. Expe-
rience captivating graphics of an unprecedented cal-
ibre. Relentless opponents will hone your combat
skills to a razor's edge. A simple yet powerful menu
and icon interface provides effortless interaction with
the world and its people, while the incredibly smooth

animation
presents a
continuous
panorama of
action and
adventure.

To gel your cap>' or
Times of Lort, dther

1) \1eIi your local retailer,

2) tall 1.8fX).999-l939 Sim
loipmKSTtoorderbi \1S:\'
MC.or

3) mall check (L'.S. $1 or VISA
/MC, cardholder name and
explrallon dilte to Orl|;ln. All ver-
sions i39.K plus $2.5D shipping
and handling. .Allow l-lweel-J* for
delivers.

Try iilAdemodiskof Times
of Lore is now available for
tlie Commodore 64/128K,
Send S2.50 io Origin for yours
and credit it towards a direct
order puxfliase.

Available for Ihe lBM-PC/Tanc!y/
compatibles, Apple 11 Series, Com.
modore 64/128, Amiga and Atari ST.

Times of Lofe is a trademark of Origin Syslom*, loc

Astonishing realism
is yours through
scores of unique char-
acters and sophisti-
cated conversations.
Immerse yourself in
the sights and sounds
of an ancient world embroiled in turmoil — the disap-
pearance of the king and his young
son — the struggle
for control of the
realm. The stakes
are high; your role
as the hero-for-hire '
requires all the cour-
age and savvy you
can muster. Your
quest for truth will
teach you much of
the distinction be-
tween appearances
and reality. Magic
and intrigue com-
bined with finely

crafted game-play ^,, .— «=».— ™» ,„

bring you the best ^B ^^^^Hi ' f '•>""^

7r , ^W' ^^^^EH I afefurtlK

of fantasy m... ^■h^^^^^^^^^B 'iM commodore.

Times of Lore

Stunning graphics and animation
Fast-paced combat action

• Dynamic conversations
• Compelling plot

136-B Harvey Road,
Londonderry, NH 03053

64 AND 128 SOFfV/ARE REVIEWS'

Reviewed by Mark Cotone

Dragon's Lair

('((niputer:

Coniii)(j(ioiv {'A

Publisher:

Softwm-e Pi-ojett;;, Ine

Distributor: Electrorac Ails

1820 Gatewa\' Drive

San Mateo, CA i)4404

Medium:

Disk

Price:

$iyiftl

It doesn't seem that long ago, but it was
way back in '83 when Don Bluth's
Dragon's Lair coin-op burst onto the
scene, igniting choruses of oooh's and
aaah's fi-om wide-eyed \ideo playere ev-
eo'\vhei-e. This was a time when ai*cade
audiences were starting to thin out, tired
of finding the same hackneyed game in-
gredients hidden behind thin facades
sporting little more than creative titles
and imaginative window di-essing. But
this newcomer was going to turn the tide
and demand attention by exhibiting some
exti'aordinary guts. For behind the knobs,
glass and wood of this game's cabinet wa.s
a revolutionaiy computeiized videodisc
system, a game foundation unlike any-
thing else that had ever swallowed a
quarter

But that was five years ago, and the fei'-
vor has since subsided. Can you still re-
member Daphne, Dirk and Singe? Did
you ever even meet them? Well, whether
these names evoke fond memories or di'aw
complete blanks. Software Pitjecta. Inc.,
with the distributi\'e help of Electronic
Arts, would once again like to make ihem
the topic of players' discussions. With
their new Dragon's Lair release for the
Commodore 64. the famed adventui-e is
back for more.

Burning Singe:
Taking a Fire Breather

One of the biggest advantages the com-
puter version oWragon'x Lair has over
the original is that Softwaiie Projects actu-
ally packages an instruction pamphlet to
help outline the goal in each of the game's
17 stages. Refer to your insti-uction pam-
phlet for some usefUl backgi-ound any
time you enter a new stage. And if you
still get stuck, perhaps one of the tips I've
listed below will be of some a^istance.

• Falling Platforms: Always return to
the platform's center after each gust. This
will put you in a ready position for wind
from any direction, and also afford you the

For the uninformed, let me introduce
the principal cast. Daphne is the beautiful
daughter of a wealthy unnamed king in
some faraway fantasy land. Singe is a de-
mented, greedy dragon who has just kid-
napped Daphne, threatening to kill her
unless he i-eceives the proverbial king's
ransom. And then there's Dirk the Dar-
ing, youi- fearless surrogate knight who
has always admiiied Daphne fix)m afai;
and is now willing to risk everything to
save her soul. Isn't love gi-and? Singe, a
crafty creature, has taken his royal bait
and imprisoned her in the secret caverns
canned deep beneath his enchanted castle,
hn his rescue attempt. Dirk must battle
his way through a forti-ess lillt^ with
Singe's henchmen, creatm^es and traps,
ultimately facing the old fire-breather
himself in a climatic undergitiund show-
down,

The confrontations that stand between
Dirk and his lady are some of the most
outrageous tiiais ever to measure the
depth of love-fueled endui-ance. Seventeen
different tests of strength, dexterity and
perseverance have been devised, each pre-
sented as a distinct arcade game within

most room for error if you're caught off
guard and blowTi backwards.

• Burning Rope: Remember, it's up to
you to leap off the stone elevator as it
takes you up to each level. If you miss
your floor, you're more than likely to get
burned.

• Ramps and Giddy Goons: You don't
have to be on the same ramp as a goon to
give him a fatal taste of your sword.
Whack one of these weirdos from an adja-
cent ramp, and it'll make jumping a lot
less hazardous.

• Ye River Caves: When you get to the
river's whiripools, pull youi- joystick back
as you enter each new screen. This will
buy you some extra time to survey the sit-
uation and plot a course.

the game. It's a gi-ueling gauntlet. In a
walk through, pmists might note that not
all of the original challenges have sur-
vived the transition. But the ones that
have been chosen for the adaptation biing
home, in one shape or another some of the
more memorable moments hxim the origi-
nal. There are white water rapids to be
rafted, flying horses to be tamed, enemy
knights to be vanquished, falling plat-
forms to be fiown and raging infernos to
be crossed— just to name a few of the
awaiting tasks. The computer renditions
might differ somewhat in appeai-ance
and'br perepective fi-om theii' coin-op
counterparts, but the designers, working
within the pai-ametei-s of their medium,
have certainly succeeded in capturing the
spirit of each match.

Dragon's Lair's diaw has always been
its unique look, but when judging visuals,
it would seem impractical to measure the
computer vei-sion against its videodisc
predece.ssor. They're two different style
machines. But even when you compai-e its
perfoi-mance against other Commodore
games, Softwaiie Projects' offering is still a
mbced bag. On the whole, the background
gi'aphics ai^e superb, pnniding a vaiiety of
clear, colorful environments for all of
Dirk's antics. Crisscrossing cobwebs,
etched stone hallways and boiling mud
ponds are just some of the specifics that
desen'e applause for bringing each scene
to life. Yet, when judging the animated ac-
tion that is portrayed across these back-
drops, sometimes the designers fall short.
Ever>' so often. Dirk's moves tend to be-
come extremely jei'ky, trading off any illu-
i Conlinued iw fnifif 112

I • Dungeons of the Lizard King: Unless

the very tip of the Lizard's jeweled cane
j makes contact with your head, you can't
I be harmed. So if the Lizard is closing in
,' and winding up for a hit, quickly turn and
move into him. This will put you inside
the cane's swath and out of danger. Then,
when he relaxes, run like hell.

• Magical Fljing Horse: If you can't
react quickly enough to avoid the oncom-
ing obstacles, push j'our joystick all the
way to the left and hold it there. This
seems to put Dirk in an invulnerable posi-
tion for a freie ride to the next level.

• Mud Monster: To cross the gorge, see
if you can't draw the wrath of the biggest
Monster on the block. In this case, a little
mudslinging could be beneficial. g

30 DECEMBER 1988

■^

//.

Now you can take home some of the best Arcade games you've ever played,
to play on your own personal computer!

Skillful programming has taken the superb graphics and addictive game play of Arcade hits Double Dragon and
Sidewinder and faithfully reproduced them in home computer versions.

Join in deadly combat with the savage street gang of the infamous Shadow Boss in Double Dragon.

.iidulge in an orgy of action and destruction in the high-energy shoot-em-up Sidewinder (part of the Awesome Arcade

Action pack on Amiga and Atari ST). Go on the rampage and smash buildings and munch tiny natives in Aaargh!

Nothing but endless Arcade action - Arcadia has spared no quarter!

R O

Doubit Ongon it i joint publkcation o< Ai-udii ind Trade wctt.

Artadia it a member a( the Mistertnmic Group.

ARCADIA 71 1 West 17th St., UnitG9, Costa Mesa, CA 92627.
Tel. (714) 631-1001.

/VMiG^SOFMARE REVIEWS'

Reviewed by Jeffery Scott Hall

Vampire's
Empire

Computer:
Publisher:

Price:

Amiga

DigiTekSoft\\-ai'e, Inc.

104 W. Seneca

Suite 4

Tiimpa, FL 33612

$44.95

It is late at night when you discover the
Count's lair, finally you have located
the evil underground "Doom-of-Gloom."
As you open the door, a cold chill enve-
lopes your body. Gazing down into the lair
you see nothing, yet you know that evil is
all around. You quickly check your sup-
plies: a handful of garlic, reflective mir-
rors and a magic ball. Then you go down
the stairs to set out on your quest. This
is the setting for Vampire's Empire from
Digilfek Software.

The Quest

You are Dr. Van Helsing, vampire hunt-
er, who has vowed to rid the Earth of
Count Dracula himself. Sounds like a
simple job for a man of youj' standards,
but one thing that will not be simple is the
control of that mystic light— which is re-
quired to kill the Count. In your journey
you will also find many \ile creatures
which will try to stop you fix)m completing
your mission. These creatures range from
ordinary love-crazed ugly female vam-
pires to the not-so-ordinary ghouls hang-
ing from the ceiling, not to mention the
trap doors. The object of the game is to
find Count Dracula and destroy him,
Sounds simple right? Wrong! In order for
you to do .so, you must have full control
over the magic light. To do this \'ou must
position mirrors in the proper places
throughout the game in order for the light
to reach the Count. If you find Dracula
without the magic light, then prepare to
be di'ained!

Game Play

You will find yourself exploring differ-
ent areas of the game, ranging hvm the
upper to lower regions. As you walk along,
the screen will scroll in the direction you
are going. Soon you will meet up with
some of the evdl charactere. To waixl them
off, throw garlic at them (by pressing the
fire button in the direction you are going i.
If you do not succeed in thjt)wing the gar-

The game is

divided into

240 screens

and can be

thought of as

one giant

underground

maze!

lie at the right time, the evd creatures will
drain youi- bl wd. Your blood supply is in-
dicated at the fai" right of the screen. The
game will end when you have been
drained of all your blood (ouch!), and you
will find yourself starting over.

lb advance finm one level to the next,
you must collect ceitain aitifacts, climb
up ladders, go down slides and even fall
through somt' trap dooi-s. Depending on
which level you are in, certain thin^
must be done to advance. In some cases
you will find youi-self wandering ait)und
in a circle, lb get out of this, you must
touch a certain aj^ea of the wall, collect all
the artifacts far that level, and fall
through certain traps.

The game is divided into 240 screens
and can be th aught of as one giant under-
ground maze! When you do reach Count
Dracula, the screen will be enlarged, so
you see close-ups of both the Count and
Dr. Van Helsiag while scary music plays
in the backgn)und. This is the grand
finale of the game; it must be seen to be
appreciated.

Summary

I found thi"ee minor faults with Vam-
pire's Empire. The first and most impor-
tant is the fac: that they lefl; out a pause
feature in the game. This can cause some
serious probleins when you want to take a
break and the monsters are all over you.

Second, I would have liked the title mu-
sic playing thioughout the game instead
of no music at all (even better would have
been the option to toggle music offibn).

My third complaint has to do with the
way Dr. Van Helsing thixiws gai4ic. In-
stead of his aim appearing to pull back to
throw it, it seems as if he spits at them (it's
quite humorous to see). However, these
are just minor complaints, I found many
good points as well.

Vampire's Empire is a veiy exciting ar-
cade-style adventure game. The gi'aphics,
music and sound effects are veiy nicely
done. The screens scroll very smoothly —
ti-uly a plus! 1 have had a lot of fun play-
ing Vampire's Empire, and I think you
will too. So, if you are looking for a fiight-
fiilly good game, this one is it!

Vanquishing the Vampire

• Never stand in one spot lor a long pe-
riod of time. If you do, the monsters will
find you and will drain much of your
blood, lb avoid this, move Dr. Van Helsing
every few seconds.

• Avoid getting artifacts that ai^e on
trap doors. These artifacts ai-e "dummies"
and will only make you fall thi-ough the
trap. If you fall through, the artifact will
still be there. Don't worry, it's not needed
to complete your quest.

• If you ever find yourself wandering
around in circles, then you have either not
collected all the artifacts oi" touched a se-
cret door. So make sure all attifacts have
been collected for the level you are in and
explore carefully.

• Make sujie that 3^ou are in the same
level the light is at all times. This is veiy
difficult to do, but if you lose the light, you
can not destroy Dracula. g

32 DECEMBER 1988

// LUCASFILM ON THE ART AND SCIENCE OF ENTERTAINMENT ]]

NEWHOPEFOR

Battered Stdrv Gamers.

HERE'S A LOT lUKE
about computer adven-
tures, but it sure isn't
un getting killed all the
time. That's why Maniac
Mansion K so refreshing— 1
can play from start to finish
without dying once! "

That's more than great fan
mail. It's a very aslutc obser-
wition. Because while most
- story games
treat

!n Maniac Mansion,' a movie-style

"tiit-si:ene"quickly establishes the

characters' personalities.

^^^^^■■1

LOTTn^i^^^^SSH^*^^

■r

e,y^-r.--:i^

[.* _i=— ■_

zfclU

"^■jgl

Not vvith Lucasfilm's
new "point n' click'
interface, though.
All the words you need
are right on the
screen.Just click the
cursor on them to
choose characters,
objects, and actions.

Now you can piay an
entire fifty hour
game without typing
asingle word. Or
putting your life on
hold until you realize
the green leafy thing
is a... plastic fern.

you'll get into major hot
water all right, but you'll
have the fun of getting out
of it. too.

LET'S Get Crazy Together.

Just pick up a copy of
Maniac Mansion:" the comedy
thriller about a kidnapped
cheerleader, a very mad

you like the meat in the dog
food factory, Lucasfilm story
games treat you like a human
being who just wants some
good dean fun.

1 he (un starts with an en-
gaging plot, hot graphics and
tasty puzzles. But what keeps
it going is a unique design
that lets you play the game in-
stead of fighting the computer

The NoTyping Interface.

Today's story games evolved
from te.xt adventures. The

Just three "clicks]' and you'll send
Zak McKiadteif ofor to tie pawn shop
counter to buy a pair of nase glasses.

interface, in most cases, re-
mained in the swamp.

With conventional .story
games, whenever you want
your character to do something,
you type. And type. And type.

Suppose you want to pick up
a green leafy object. Well, you
might try typing, "pick up
plant!' If that doesn't work, you
mi^ltry"bu.sh!' "sfiruK 'tree''
and so on. After a while, you
might try a different form of
entertainment.

More Story.
Less Gory.

Most story game
designers seem to think people
love to get clobbered.

Wedon't. After all, how
much fun can it be to
have a fatal accident every
three and a half minutes. . .
then reload your saved game,
take a few timid steps for-
ward, and save it again.
Seems more like paranoia
than enlertainmenl.

That's why Lucasfilm
story games make it down-
right difficult to die. Oh.

I nil II II

ONrnGoifCoiiaj.

„^~^r

■f • Aliens' ■ffliM "■"""■

scientist, and a hilariously
creepy rescue mission.

Or Zak McKrackenAnd The
Alien Mindbenders!" where
you and a seedy tabloid jour-
nalist save the world from
space aliens who want us all to
have the IQs of turnips,

You'll love the twisty plots
and the goofy characters. You'll
crack up constantly with the
zany one-liners and sight gags.
And you'll go just a little crazy
with the mind-bending puzzles.

Crazy but nicely crazy.

I UCA5FIL M

Cohirf^^dt,'* 64/t28at>JApfiIclh^ //« pcri^'u'

petiar>ct CWnpuirrj AllfUifenlt ofllir gUm-e far^iatiU

TI-r,J.j ij c t^giittr^d hademtrrk, o/ '/jft^v Cfl'p

I — I ii/urc &4-anJ \26 art liO^fait^Df Cci'^rt^dart

■■,,, Lhi Appir 11 a ^ wfiilircrffroA-TWi^^
, i,-^ - . .i.Tt^Mi t/K IBM irntni ihtHin
>■ IM ♦ ): 19SS r.ocni/pfM DJ A'lnahl. rr.r«J

KONAMI HITS ARE HEADING HOME.

With our new software, your favorite arcade games come alive

-1 on your home computer, r ^^

If you own an IBM, Amiga or Commodore
computer- Watch outi Because 4 of Konami's
most awesome adventures are about to invade.

>bu'll confront the missions you've dreamed
of in Rush 'N Attack, Contra, Jackal and Boot
Camp. And you'll find yourself face to face
against unequaled challenges, with incredible
graphics, awesome music, and sound effects
that'll blow you away

So check out Konami's newest action
wherever great software is sold. And be
prepared for war. i

'•Ji^ill

■ii0^

KONAMI

■*^iA

3 rFgntrrnl W*Jern,ir*[ o* imemaiioral ftjunrsi Mat nift« Jiv Ann^*' ,*■) C*

s?^

(nc IBMtn

onaiAnjtg^iyuem

YOU'LL FIND
KONAMI GAMES IN
THESE STRATEGIC
LOCATIONS.

BABBAGES

CHILD WORLD AND
CHILDREIM'S PALACE

ELECTRONICS BOUTIQUE
FEDCO STORES

LIONEL KIDDIE CITY,
LIONEL PLAYWORLD AND
LIONEL TOY WAREHOUSE

TOYS "R " US

WAREHOUSE
ENTERTAINMENT

ZAYRE

(Boston and Washington D.C. Area Stores Only)

Attention Dealers:

For further information on Konami's line
of computer games, call customer service
at (312) 595-1443.

KONAMI

Only Rush 'N Attack and Contra will be available
for Amiga in 1 988. s 1 988. Konami Inc.

ABIZOrVA

ComfKjte Gr Play
1000 F«tfl Mall
CALIFORNIA
a^KERSFIELD
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V Plaza
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t048 3rdAv<f
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9300 Sante ft

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346 W Maude
(40a| 737O900
TORRANCE
T^ W^^ehouse
19701 HamiltonAvT
I21il 538-2314

coNNEcncur

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NEW BRITAIN
Rcxnek Hcjfne CryrpLTter
432 W Mam SI
FLORIDA
OMNESVILLE
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1514 wunivernty
19041376-5606
LAUDERCWIE L'^KES
Software CJty
3700 WOaklaFid Park

eivd

1305] 735-6700
PAfsWrA»,CITY
GjIfCoas:

Corrpurers
674 W 23rd St
PLANTATION
Software Soltware
612 Broward Mall
(305)476-0595
WEST PALM BEACH
Corrpuleri 4 Rent
2695 N Military Trarl
I407J47I-1976
ILUNOK
AURORA

Micro- Tech Solutions
991 A Aurora Ave.
13121892-3551
CANTON
Elessnvm's IrK
f7SS Mam

CHICAGO

Software Plus

6212 N MMrsternAve

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108 N \*rmrlion

HANOVER fWRK

Software Plus wesl

2001 Irving Park

(3121837-6900

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Union Hall Inc

63Z1 N 2nd St

SPRINGFIELD

mini Software Center

2036 S McAlthur

\XMEELING

Software Plus

731 WDttndeeRa

(312)S20-!717
INOIANA

PlAJNFtELD

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311 GjrOofiDr
KENTUCKY

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171 WLowryLn
LOUISIANA

SHREVEPORT

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544 E Kings Hwy

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22 Miller St
(2071338-1410

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(2071498-3711

WES TB ROOK
Hands On Computers
861 Mni-i Si
(2071854-1155

MASSACHUSFTTS

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Nichols Electronics
274 WaficonahSt
(413(443-2568

WEUESLY
Memory Location
395 Washington St
(617)237-6846

WORCESTEfi
Tfie Software Srx>p
84 Pleasant St
(6l7)79r-5'?05

CLAWSON
Software Trends
230 S fWainS!

CUO

The Edge Connecior

124 North Mill

(3(3(686-1070

FLINT

I/O Software

G- 3304 A Conjnna BtJ

GARDEN CITY
Soft-House Computer

Center
32647ftjrdR[J
(3(3)522-3015

TRAVERSE CITY
The Software Shop
7 10 Centre St

MISSOURI

CAPE GIIWRDEAU
Midwesi Computers
203 West fftrk Mall
(3(4)339-0022

NEWJEfiSer
BRIDGEWATER
Software Etc
4 00 Commons Way

WAYNE
Software Etc
WIKowtirookMaK

NEW fVIEXICO

ALBUQUERQUE
Page One
)l200H,(omgomery

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(5051294.2026

NEWVORK

ALBANY
Computer Cellar
91 ( Central Ave
(518)482-1462

BAY SHORE
Software Etc
1701 Sunrise Hwy

CHEEKTOWA&\
Papa's Computerware
27S9UnjonSt.
(7(6(684.7272

FLUSHING
Software Eic.
39-0( Main SI

HIGHLAND FALLS
Softw.ire Affair
ISa Mam St.
(914)445-4121

HOLS ROOK
Great Escapes
5301 Suorise Hwy

KENMORE
Software Sufjermarket
36 70 Delaware Ave
(716(a73-532(

LATHAM
Contemporaiy
Computers
893 Loudan RtJ.
(518)783-1088

NEW YORK CITY
JiR Music World

23 F^srk Row
(2(2) 732-8500

Leigh s CorTtputer
14 ;5 riiffdAv*
(212)879-6257

RIDGEWOOD

QuoWttJls

70-20 Fresh Pond Rd

ROCHESTER
Leon's Cortip4jter hfisn
103 Cliniori Ave
(716)325-2737

SCOTIA
Select Software
lOSMoTTawkAve.
(5181 332-7886

OHK)

CrtYTON
Microtyne
4049J«lai^hal(Rd.

RVIRFIELD
Mrcrowaie fvlagic
6625 Dfflie Hvj^
|5I3IS7i-6550

MEDlfMA
Ram-Run Computer

Producii
891 N Court
(216)263-4428

PENNSYLVANIA

WEST READING
English's Computers
608 Penn Ave

RHODE ISLAND
WARWICK
Software Connection
lOf WIMaDCkRd

WDONSOCKET
Galajty Corrputeri
332Ri«?rSt.

TEXAS

BEAUMONT
Software Rental
2855 Eastex
Freeway Iff D

FORT WORTH

Wedgewtxjd Software
5312 Wbodway
(817)292-7353

HOUSTON
Floppy Wizard
271 Memoriai
[7(3)451-0660

SAN ANTONIO
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5525 Blanco
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UTAH

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3330 S. State
(301)484-2791

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My Software Heaven
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Box 2
1304(263-1228

WtDOOBRIDGE
Virginia Micro

Systems
1 3646 Jefferson

Davis Hwy
(7031 491-6502

WASHINGTON

LONGVIEW

Software Depot
ISlOOceanbeach
Hwy

LYfvlWOOD
Family Ccjmputers
3333 134th St SW.
(206) 775-3530

PACOMA
NibCles & Hyte5
4020 S Steele St *105

SEAHLE

Omni Internatiorial

Trading Ftosi
3826 Woodland Park

Ave. N
(2061 547-6664

VANCOUVER
Software Support Int
2700 N £ Andreison

013

WISCONSIN
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Romeyn Software
2100 E. Milwaukee

MILWAUKEE
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Ave

RACINE

Computer Paradise
4901 Wcishmgton
Ave.

SOFTWARE REVIEWS"

Reviev/ed by Ervin Bobo

Softwood FUe
IISG

G)mputer: Amiga

Publisher: Bra\\'n-Wagh Publishing Co.

16795 Lark Avenue

Suite 210

Los Gatos, CA 95030
Price: $99.95

If there were only one good thing to say
about Softwood File IISG — or about
any of its previous incarnations — it would
be that this progi'am makes the concepts
of database management easily under-
standable.

Almost tvvo years ago, when many soft-
ware and hardware manufacturers were
trying cutesy-poo variations in naming
their products, one of the firet database
managers was called MiAmiga File. A re-
vised and improved edition followed in the
form of MiAmiga File 11. Perhaps the
Softwood Company, producers of all thi"ee
titles, suddenly realised that a good prod-
uct doesn't require a cute name.

Softwood File IISG (a title that may un-
fortunately cause some to think it's for an
Apple computer), gives you the ability to
store not only written infonnation, but
sound and graphics as well.

With any database manager the first
thing to do is to set up a fonnat for the re-
cords you wish to keep, hi Softwood File,
you do this through a i-equester window
where you enter the title for a field (e.g..
Address) and then click on a box that de-
scribes the type of infonnation in that
field. The choices here ai'e text, phone,
date, amount, etc. Obviously, it is possible
to set up a file where every field is text
and thus capable of holding anything you
put into it, and in some cases this may be
desirable.

Usually, however, you'll want to be
more specific, for assigning the con*ect at-
tributes to a field will not only tell youj'
computer how the information should be
handled, but mil also prevent many entry
errars: if a field is tagged as a date field, it
will accept only infonnation entered in a j
date format; and an amount field will not i
accept text.

As you create your fields, they appeal-
vertically in a smaller window that shows |
both the assigned title, the characteristics
and the length of the field. Once you've
created your form and told Softwood File

Softwood File IISG gives you
the ability to store not only
written infornnation, but
sound and graphics as well.

to accept it, these fields appear in a hori-
zontal arrangement, looking like headers
on ruled chart paper

In all versions oi Softwood File, the two
file-viewing features have been both sim-
ple and useable. Perhaps realizing that
lists are among the easiest ways of finding
and comparing information, Softn:ood File
in its default mode shows all database re-
cords in a horizontal format that is divid-
ed into labeled field columns. With a typi-
cal address file as an example, your eyes
scan the labels until you find "Last
Name," then scan down until you find
"Smith" nestled between "Slick" and
"Spike" — assuming, of course, that your
file is sorted alphabetically accoiding to
surname.

Should that record need changing, chck
on the first field in the record. You'll be
flipped to a "form view" screen where only
that one record is presented, each field in
a highlighted box that may be edited or
rearranged as you wish. Editing is rather
straightforward: click on the appropriate
box and type over the old information,
Rearranging is also done with the mouse,
by clicking and dragging the boxes until
you have them arranged as you wish.
Note that this rearranging affects onlj'
the printing of a record: there may be
times, as in the printing of address labels,
where you wish to print only a portion of
what is in the record; at other times, you
may wish to change the an-angement of
fields for a more coherent printout.

In similar fashion, the columns of infor-
mation on the "list" screen can be rear-
ranged as to width and/or placement by

selecting and dragging with the mouse
pointer

There are special functions fields in
Softwood, such as "Gale" fields that obtain
information from amount fields, Assume
you keep track of money you've loaned to
finends: one column is for "Amount
Owed," a second for "Amount Paid," and a
calc column is entitled "Balance." Setting
up your equation is easy: Amount Owed-
Amount Paid is typed in the calculation
requester and the rest is automatic. The
program will not conduct math vertically
on screen, however you can add columns
(e.g., Tbtal Owed) on a printout.

Other special columns work as their
names imply: define a field as either "Pic-
ture" or "Sound" and when entering infor-
mation into that column specify the path
as well as the IFF sound or graphic field
you wish to see, as in 'T)F1: Birds'Spai--
row". lb recall these items, chck on the
item name you wish to see or heai'. In a
variance, there is a feature called "Slide-
show" on the pull-down options menu and
each picture in your file will be displayed.

'Thone" is another special field. Find
the record for John Smith, or whomever
you wish to call, click on the Phone entiy
while holding your telephone receiver
close to your monitor's spieaker, and
Softwood File IISG will generate the prop-
er tones for dialing. Obviously, this last
will be used only by those who are incredi-
bly lazy and those who wish to make use
of every feature of the program.

The documentation included with
Softwood File IISG is good, though short.
At times, brevity is a blessing, but I would
have appreciated an index to make it easi-
er to find answers to specific feature-relat-

: ed questions. A further criticism is that
the manual is for Softwood File II (though
it does come \vith an SG sticker in place).
All the SG features are documented only
on an errata sheet stuck inside the hvnt
cover While I realize the cost of revising
manuals is high, I still fee! a qualit>' prod-
uct should be dressed with quality.

Though the lack of math fimctions and
the lack of sophisticated sorting proce-
dures will prevent Softwood File IISG
from being seriously considei-ed for busi-
ness use, it is still a worthwhile program
for the home or the small office and should

j make itself usefid in many ways. With its

' ease of operation, it is also an ideal intro-
duction to the sometimes hazy world of

, database management. n

36 DECEMBER 1988

•si- ^^

\'^-

'-^

Make AmigosWith Other Amigas.

The largest group of Amiga" users in the world
shares its problems and solutions online every day in
CompuServe's Amiga Forums. And you can join them.

Whether you're an Amiga novice or a professional
user in broadcasting, film special effects, animation,
or music production, you'll find support from thousands
of Amiga users and nearly every third-party Amiga
software and hardware vendor.

Looking for a solid CAD program? Want to make
the most of your Amiga's multitasking capabilities? Ask

somebody who's been through it all. There's no better
way to get more out of your Amiga.

To join CompuServe, see your computer dealer.
To order direct or for more information, call 800
848-8199. In Ohio and Canada, call 6!4 457-0802.
If you're already a member, type CO AMIGA
at any ! prompt.

CompuServe'

^n HiJl Elock Cortifufly

SOnWARE REVIEWS"

Spellbound

Computer:

Amiga

Publisher:

Leaniei-s Image

P.O. Box 3669

Logan, UTM321

Price:

S39.95

Ages:

5-15 yeai-s

Spellbound is a fiiendly computerized
i3 teacher which lets young children
learn and test their knowledge of words in
three sepai-ate games. Using coiorilil
graphics, some animation, mild humor
and a mixture of digitized and synthesized
voices, the game assumes the role of a pa-
tient teacher. But what really makes
Spellbound such an excellent learning
tool is that it effectively creates a pleasant
learning environment for the student.

Before I describe the three games, let's
look at how you decide which list of words
the child will study The game comes with
a healthy word list, but to get full advan-
tage of its teaching potential you'll want
to add more. This is done by selecting
"Make A New Spelling List" from the
main menu. Once selected, the pai-ent or
teacher can load and edit an existing word
list or input an entirely new list. This abil-
ity makes it possible to add a child's cur-
rent weekly spelling lesson to the program
disk. And because the game is not copy
protected and can be duplicated, there is
no need to wony that a careless child
might destroy (or lose) this educational in-
vestment. For that same reason, the game
can even be installed on a hard disk if you
wish.

The three games are simple but efiFec-
tive. "Match-It" presents a screen with a
barking dog and a hoop of fire. A pleasant-
sounding, digitized, male voice asks the
child to point at the word spoken by the
Amiga's synthesized voice. Tb respond, the
child simply points at one of the three
spellings offered and clicks the mouse.

In the second game a clown tucked
tightly away in a cannon appears, and the
child is told to unscramble some letters to
spell a word. The list of correctly-spelled
words from the current lesson is displayed
on both sides of the screen to help the
child. Again, to respond the child must
type the correctly-spelled word.

In the last game, "SpelLIt," a clown
holding a fist full of inflated balloons ap-
pears. Again a message (using mixed digi-
tized and synthesized voices) asks the
child to spell a word. % respond, the child

Using colorful graphics antj
digitized and synthesized
voices, the game assumes
the role of a patient teacher.

must use the keyboard to input the cor-
rectly-spelled word.

Each game cycles thix)ugh the entire
spelling list (normally ten words). If the
child misses the same word twice, a most
congenial voice will help the child by
speaking the correct word. I was happy to
find the voices displayed only one emo-
tional quality— caring. Thus there is no
need for any child to di-ead the pleasant
teacher employed by Spellbound. The re-
wards (all child-pleasera) come when the
child completes an assignment wthout
making a single mistake — the dog jumps
through the hoop, the clown flies away or
in the case of the cannon is (with gentle,
harmless humor) blown away.

I normally avoid using the adjective
"friendly" to describe software; because
the word was so abused by many develop-
ers in the early '80's, the phi'ase "user-
fiiendly" lost all credence. But this pro-
gram is truly fiiendly — in the most mean-
ingful definition of the word. First the pro-
gram is easy to use. To begin, the child
simply points to one of four options (Spell-
It, Mix-It, Match-It or Make A New Spell-
ing List), clicks the mouse, and presto he
or she is ready to go. But beyond that, the
program succeeds in making the child feel
comfortable. I would even venture to de-
scribe the program as "loving," or at least
that is the impression it creates. This lov-
ing illusion is accomplished with a digi-
tized voice which talks to the user with a
true human voice filled with casing inflec-
tion,

I have only two complaints about the
program. Complaint 1: Unlike a real
teacher, Spellbounds instructor cannot
tell the difference between the words you
and the word ewe. When the child is asked
to spell a word, no definition is given, just
the request for the child to spell the word

Reviewed by Gary V, Fields

spoken by the computer's synthesized
voice. If the progi'am is expecting (because
of the selected word list) the child to spell
ewe and he responds with you, he will be
told that the woi-d is wrong, even though
the word he i,\Tote might have matched
the word he heai-d exactly. A human
teacher in the same situation would prob-
ably have tai-geted which word the child
was to spell with a sentence using the
word like: "Spell ewe, as in a female sheep
is called a 'ewe.' " In the program's de-
fense, if the child is working on a weekly
spelling list, he should know which
word — ewe or you — he is studying.

Complaint 2: Because the voice used to
speak the words fixirn the spelling list is
sjTithesized (instead of digitized i, it is
sometimes difficult to undei-stand which
word it said, lb help remedy this problem,
the game screen includes an icon which
when clicked will repeat the word as many
times as the child \vishes. But after enjoy-
I ing the clear, exact, understandable digi-
tized voice of the teacher, the less under-
standable synthesized voice of the com-
puter is a disappointment. Of course, if
the spell list were not spoken with the
Amiga's built-in voice, there would be no
easy, affordable way for a pai'ent or teach-
er to add to the spell list. To minimize the
recognition problem, the "Make A New
Spelling List" includes a translator which
lets you adjust the way the computer
sounds vowels and consonants. With this
option, you can get close, if not exactly
sounded words to match those in the spell-
ing list — but never as good as a real hu-
man's voice.

If anything these two complaints under-
score why the computer, even one as good
as the Amiga, will never replace human
teachers. As it stands, Spellbound is an
excellent teaching aid which does what it
was designed to do and does it very well. If
you have young children in your home
and would like to put your Amiga to work
as a teacher, Spellbound is a wonderful
product which does just that. 1 recommend
this one. And remember, that recommen-
dation comes imm a parent who has tried
and been disappointed with dozens of
; "educational" software progi-ams which
I preceded this one. Spellbound delivers

what it promises— it helps children learn.
, I just wish it had been aroimd when I was
' young; if it had been perhaps I wouldn't
have to turn to my word processor's spell
checker so often. g

38 DECEMBER 1988

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/\M I GA^ SOFTWARE REVIEWS'

Reviewed by Gary V. Fields

WordPlex

Computer: Amiga
Publisher: PAR Softwa-e. Inc.

P.O. Box i;i09

Vancouver, Washington 98GG6
Price: $39.9-5

S24.9.5 (thi-ee oirtional data

disks)

Millions of TV viewers love game
shows, and a good percentage of
that audience thinks the best show to ever
give away money is Wheel Of Fortune.
Hoping to benefit fixim that game's popu-
larity, WordPlex brings the same word
challenge and big bucks giveaways to the
Amiga.

As those who have viewed Wfwel Of
Fortune (and who hasn't? i would expect,
WordPlex spins around the same "hang-
man" premise. A window divided into
three rows of blank boxes appears. Next
you are told those blanks represent words
in a specific category such as phrase, cli-
che, quotation, place, etc. In turn, each
contestant (one to six can play) spins a
wheel and guesses a letter. If any of the
words in the category contain the guessed
letter, the contestant collects some money,
the letters are inserted on the boaixl, and
the player spins again. This continues un-
til someone figures out the mysterj' words.
The contestant who collects the most mon-
ey is the winner Winning requires a good
degree of luck, a good know-ledge of both
important and trivial facts and the ability
to spell.

I have always liked games which let
more than one person get involved, rather
than simply pitting human against com-
puter. If nothing else, WordPlex delivers
human competition. Up to six players can
test their gray matter here. In fact the
computer acts simply ;is a host (not com-
petitor) even if only one player is chosen.
Thus, the one-player mode serves as a
practice area only, since you can neither
win nor lose against youi-self.

Like the TV game this one was fash-
ioned alter, spinning is important. De-
pending upon where your pointer stops,
your guess could earn you as much as
$1400 or if you are unlucky, rob you of all
you've won. The computer keepjs track of
whose turn it is, how much money each
player has and any free spin cards collect-
ed. In the long run the winner at Word-

Winning requires a good
degree of luck, a good
knowledge of bofh important
and trivial facts and the
ability to spell.

Pkx will be the person who is better at de-
ciphering puzzles rather than the one who
is lucky at spirming. But as is true of the
real game, a few good (large amount or
free spin) or bad (bankrupt or lose spin)
spins can have a dramatic outcome on
how much money you have when you
walk away.

lb tell you I am a game show fan would
be a lie. It would have to be a pretty bor-
ing day for me to spin my TV dial looking
for one of those half-hour killers. But I
must admit, I have been drawn into the
challenge of trying to decipher more than
one of those puzzles by accident — by being
on the wrong channel at the WTong time.
What it all comes down to is that humans
are just naturally curious and competi-
tive. When we are challenged, we re-
spond — and that is exactly why some
players will find WordPlex addictive.

WordPlex has a magnetic quality which
can draw you into the game even if you
want to resist. All of us have become in-
volved with games which had us mutter-
ing to ourselves, 'Tm going to play one
more round and then leave." You'll find
yourself doing the same after a spin or two
here as well.

The game's graphics are nothing to get
excited about, consisting mostly of flash-
ing boxes which hold information. As you
would expect, you can play the entire
game using your mouse alone, except for
when you try to solve the puzzle. At that

point you must type your guess into a re-
quester window.

I think most Amiga users will complain
that the game has too few "bells and whis-
tles." I had hoped to fmd an animated
game host or perhaps a ftill-featured hos-
tess to turn boxes, but none were found. A
synthesized voice does tell you about the
games and announces the winner and the
correct answer to the puzzle. But unlike
the game Wheel Of Fortune, there is no
studio filled with prizes displayed, no
women in tight dresses or humor fix)m a
large-toothed host.

Without the "bells and whistles" what
remains is a well-done i if not visually ex-
citing) word game which puzzle solvers,
word twisters and trivia whizzes will love.
Actually the current version of WordPlex
is the second release of the same game for
the Amiga. The screen display in this up-
date is crisper, the letters larger, and the
spinning wheel takes up the entire screen
instead of only a comer. The box which
keeps track of guessed letters has also
been moved to just above the puzzle win-
dow, so it is easy to keep track of guessed
letters. The two buy vowel icons now spell
out the option (Select or Abort Vowel) in-
stead of just showing a single letter, and
you can play up to 18 rounds instead of
only three. The game disk is not copy pro-
tected (you can easily install it on your
hard drive), but the update game does em-
ploy a "keyword protection" scheme (the
original did not) which requires you look
up and type a word from the manual each
time you begin.

The game categories included on the
program disk arc: person, place, title,
thing, quotation, people, cliche and
phra.se. For those who just can't get
enough of WordPlex, the company also
sells a set of data disks with thousands of
other puzzles in categories like: America,
nature or the Bible. The program is also
totolly customizable. You can type in your
own phrases and name your own categor-
ies in the latest version.

Whether you v\ill enjoy WordPlex or not
all comes down to one question: "Do you
enjoy word games?" If you do, you'll love
this one. On the other hand, if you are
looking for fast action or dazzUng graphics
and sound effects, you will not find them
here. I would much rather play this game
than wateh any game show on TV because
here the challenge is real and commer-
cials are extinct. n

40 DECEMBER 1988

..tfSS

5«t '^ i'

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It happens so fast. You're kicking back, you
and your best friend, just checking out two of the
latest arcade action games from Data East and, zap,
you're fighting witti full fire power and up to your
neck in heart-stopping, eye-popping jungle.

Victory Roati pits the heroes of the #1 smash
hit, Ikari Warriors, against a hideous horde that has
heroes for lunch -Stonehead and his wrecking
crew of bizarre and brutal beasts.

Guerrilla War takes you behind the headlines
to the battlelines. it's you versus them -and let us
guarantee you that itiem" is an army of evil that
will keep your trigger finger active for hours.

Victory Road for the IBM, Commodore and
Apple II computers. And Guerrilla War, for the
IBM and Commodore computers. Addictive
action with great graphics. Hey, it's a jungle out
there. And now we've brought it home.

ej^itA

DATA EAST USA, INC. 470 Needles Drive, San Jose, CA 95112 (408)286-7074

IBM SCREENS SHOWN. OTHER COMPUIER VERSIONS MAY VARY 1

c Uala East USA. Inc. Viciwy Roaa aid Guemlla Wai are regisietei! Iraderoaiks ol SNK. C«p, Msnulactiiied under license by Oaia East USA. Inc.

^MiGA^SOnWARE REVIEWS"

Reviewed by Graham Kinsey

Ebonstar

Computer: Amiga
Publisher: ilierolUuaioiis

17408 Chatswoilii St.

Gi-diiada HiUs, CA 91?44
Price: $39.95

As the populaiity of the Amiga 500 in-
creased, many small companies
started to produce Amiga arcade games.
Recently some of the laj'ger, more e.'jtab-
lished software companies have intro-
duced more arcade games, both original
and not-so-origina!. Micralilusions is one
of the larger software companies to enter
the competitive Amiga arcade mai'ket
with their space combat game Ebonstar.

Ebonstar takes place in the yeai- 3000
A.D., when virtually all medical, political
and social problems have been solved. The
people of this age are waited on hand and
foot by machines that attend to their ev-
ery desire. With no other challenges fac-
ing them, these people have designed a
deadly sport in which contestants in sin-
gle-seat spaceships battle around the
edges of a synthetic black hole named
Ebonstar in a contest to the death.

Upon booting the game and selecting
certain options you are presented with a
view of the Ebonstai- sector, represented as
a grid with elastic boundtmes where the
entire battle is contained. Wlien the game
starts, the Ebonstar will be created in the
sector by the referee ship called Airh.
Arch not only maintains the Ebonstar at
all times, but it also creates all computer
opponents (\sith one exception) and most
other objects that appeaJ' in the game.

At the beginning of the game your ship
will appear in a comer of the screen. You
have an unlimited supply of energy bolts
that when fii-ed repel almost anything
they strike but do not directly desti-oy
any object. You must use this weapon to
drive all opponents into the crushing
gravitational field of the Ebonstai- while
avoiding the Ebonstar youi-self. You can
also use this weapon to attempt to destroy
the Ebonstar.

After a short intei-val Arch will project a
maintenance beam into the Ebonstar to
stabilize the synthetic black hole. If you
can fire one of your energy bolts into" this
beam, you can cause the Ebonstar to de-
stabilize and explode. Unfortunately, to do
this your shot must enter exactly pai-allel

E30nSLA^

As you progress into the later
rounds, Arch will generate
superior computer
opponents that are more
than a match for you.

to the beam, otherwise Arch will deflect
your energy bolt away from the energy
beam. Destroying the Ebonstai- is the only
way to advance to a higher level where
the danger (and point rewai'dsl increase.

Areh will generate computer-controlled
ships that are similar to your own ship in
abilities. These computer op|»nents tire
your most persistent enemies, although in
the early levels they can be handled with-
out much diificulty. As you progi^ess into
the later rounds, however, Ajxh will gen-
erate superior computer opponents that
are more than a match for you. Arch al-
lows three computer opponents to exist at
one time, which in itself provides plent>' of
challenge.

But there is another opponent that even
Arch is powerless to control. Nemesis is an
alien starsliip from another world that pe-
riodically enters this universe via a stable
Ebonstar. It relentlessly hunts down any
human opponent, firing destmcti\'e fire--
balls and/or explosively colliding with any
human-controlled ship.

To add to the pressure you can also si-
multaneously battle up to three other hu-
man opponents at one time. You might
wonder how four people can play a game
on a computer that has only two game
ports. The answer is that Ebonstar sup-

ports ship controls via certain keys on the
keyboai-d in addition to the nonnal mouse
and joystick conti-ols. Foui' people can ac-
tually play at once using the Amiga key-
board and two joysticks.

hi addition to all the opponents, there
are also many objects that Ai-ch gener-
ates. Some objects when caught by a play-
er grant special abilities to that player's
ship. The captive Gyi-on grants a player
one destructive fireball ijust like the one
Nemesis fires), while aitching a Pulsar
grants a set of energy bolts that have a
computer guidance system built in. There
is also a powerful object called Spark that
when caught allows a player to instantly
eliminate any and all opponents within a
ceitain range.

Other objects that Arch produces hinder
you. Quai'ks and MagnePods will bump
you around. Quai"ks will always push you
closer to the Ebonstar while MagnePods
only harass a certain player The nasty
TbslaSpheres can remotely disable your
ship's energy bolts or engines. If all these
obstacles are too much for you and youi-
friends, there is a special play mode called
Tbumament mode that you might want to
tr\'. In Tbumament mode Areh will not
create any computer-controlled ships.
Arch is also much more generous with the
beneficial Gyix)ns, Pulsars and Sparks,
distributing these even on the fii-st level.

The quality of the gi^aphics in Ehcmstar
is not worth writing home about. It's not
that the gi'aphics are bad, but rather they
are used sparingly. The sound effects ai^e
pretty good, especially those that accom-
pany the moving and the explosion of the
Ebonstar iLself The game is copy protect-
ed, however at least the protection scheme
doesn't seem to cause undue weai' and
tear on youi* disk drives.

The only problem is that it's really not
veiy exciting in one-player mode. You can
become bored fairly easily, since one play-
er doesn't st<md much of a chance against
the hoi-de of enemies the game thixiws at
you. The Tbumament is not available in
one-player mode. Only when you have
three or four playere (especially in Tour-
nament mode) does the game become en-
joyable and not too difficult. If you have a
couple of fiiends to play Ebonstar with, it
can really be a blast, but unless you are
expecting an exti-emely difficult chal-
lenge, you probably will come to the con-
clusion that Ebonstar isn't fun unless you
aren't alone. ra

42 DECEMBER 1988

!»•

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CREATIVE COURSEWARE"

by Howard Millman

The

"Power On"
Report

Educational software that
sustains a child's interest while
teaching fundiunental building-
block concepts can be hard to
find. We'll look at programs that
do just that.

'"T^echnology plays a central role in

M. our lives, in oui' homes, . . . and in
our schools. However, the potential and
value of technology in our schools has not
been flilly realized." So asserts Rep.
James M. Jeffords (R-VT, Committee on
Education and Labor), commenting in the
recently-released Oifice of Technology As-
sessment's 250-page report: "Power On!
New Tbols for Tfeaching and Learning."

The report's authors agree with Repre-
sentative Jeffords. "Power Onl." assessing
the 10,000 educational software products
presently available, concludes, 'Their
quality could be much better."

We agree. Looking at our software-lined
shelves, we've previewed well over 100
software programs, lb date we've recom-
mended fewer than 12 as innovative, ef-
fective and useful.

As did "Power On!," we find that most
software conforms to a conservative stan-
dard, one that's likely to be widely accept-
ed (and purchased I by teachers and par-
ents. Why? Primarily because the soft-
ware mirrors the familiar textbooks
they're accustomed to, except now text is
on screen instead of in print.

This column uncovers progi-ams that of-
ten break with that tradition. As Rep. Jef-
fords also said, "... it is most appropriate
to . . . encourage effective use of technol-
ogy in our schools so that our children can
be more independent, competitive and
productive tomonxiw." We shm^ that view.
We believe the way to encom-age first-rate
software is to confer recognition on
publishers of innovative educational
programs.

Translating Promise into

Practice

"Power On!" discloses, "U.S. public
schools now average one computer for ev-
ery 30 students with average access of one

Sky Travel '

horn- per week." For the 46,000,000 chil-
di-en in elementary and high schools na-
tionwide, this resource rationing dictates
that keyboard time must be used wisely.
Carried down to the bottom line, software
of quality isn't merely important, it's
es.Hential.

Tbday's students deserve comprehen-
sive courseware of exceptional quality.
The first step of this long journey starts
with parents and educator translating
the computer's promise into practice.
How? By recognizing that well-travelled
paths lead only to yesterday's triumphs.

Now. on to this month's selections.

Sky Travel

Computer: Commodore 64
Ages: 10 to Adult

Publisher: Microlllusions

17408 Chatsworth Street

Granada Hills, CA 91344

(800) 522-2041
Price: $49.95

Emphasis: Astronomical science, history

imd mjthoiogy

The gaze of star watchers sweep the
night sky, probing the infinity of space,
their innate curiosity prompting them to
wonder "What's that star's name? Is that
bright object Mars?" Maybe they wonder
il' Captain Kirk and ih". Spock are accu-
rate when they yak about galaxies and
star clustei-s?

Sky Travel is a graphic-oriented data-
base for astronomy students or the more-
than-mi Idly-curious star watcher. It's a
vei-satile alternative to a star identifica-
tion wheel chart. Staj-chaiis are limited,
so they cannot correct for latitude and lon-
gitude, timeday'date, as well as compass
directions. A more dynamic solution was
required, that answer is Sky Travel

Microlllusions' Sky Travel transforms
the venerable circulai- chart into a d\Tiam-

ic soliloquy on the sky.

Although easy to use, Sky Travel is
complex because it's complete. Anyone,
any time, anywhere on earth can get an
accurate fix on stellai" objects. "Any time"
in this case is a 20,000-year spread, a sig-
nificant chunk to us mortals but merely a
hiccup in the life of the universe.

The first step is to conligm^ the pro-
gram by entering the user's latitude and
longitude, if known. For the mWk of the
earth's population who haven't yet memo-
rized their coordinates, an appendix list^
100 or so of the world's major cities as well
as numerous major islands. What if none
of the cities are close enough and the user
doesn't inhabit one of t\vo dozen islands
listed? Then, by centering the cursor
crosshairs on a Mercator-slyle world map,
the program computes the latitude and
longitude. Either the keyboai-d or a joy-
stick mobilizes the cursor.

Once that's computed, the user enters
the time and date. Then the gears grind,
after a few moments the sci^een displays a
view depicting the astral objects residing
in the southern sky. The objects are drawn
fi-om Sky Traveh database of 88 constella-
tions, 1200 -stai-s and 300 sky objects.

Entering compass directions IN, E, W)
changes the perspective accordingly Rais-
ing or lowering the cursoi" changes the ele-
vation of the view in relation to the hori-
zon. Sky Travel also displays the sky
below the horizon even though it is out of
sight of the viewer. This feature alone is
somewhat of a "gee whizzer," but the best
is yet to come.

By centering the cursor over an object
and pressing F7 (or fire button on the joy-
stick), information on any of the objects
scrolls across the screen's bottom. The
data list the object's Draper (or New)
Catalog number along with the Messier
number. The text often capsulizes signifi-
cant astronomical data about the object,
including distance (in light years or min-
utes), mass, spectral color and other facts.
Sky Travel offei-s fouj' modes: Map (for
computing the latitude and longitude),
Set (for entering day/date/time). Chart (al-
ways depicts North as "up" and no hori-
zon) and finally, Sky. The Sky mode is the
most versatile; it allows custom tailoring
of the screen to display or exclude certain
objects as well as narrowing the width
(down to nine degrees from the default of
72 degrees) for increased clarity.

Continued on page 46

44 DECEMBER 1988

olo^»°

■^'

>o^'

The "Power On!" Report-

Continued from page 44

One major difference between Sky and
Chart is that Chart depicts astral objects
as dark spots on a light background. So,
when calling for a hard copy, the printer
doesn't beat itself to death. SHIFT/P in-
vokes a (screen duinpl printout of any
Chart view.

The program's other options include a
choice of whether constellations should
bear three-letter abbreviations or no
names, if planets are refeired to by their
symbols and to display or ignore deep sky
objects such as distant galaxies and nebu-
la. When Tracking is toggled on, the
screen follows a moving object's trajectory
and records its path using Right Ascen-
sion and Declination measurements.

Sound, another option, is simply a perq
that adds a bit of pizzazz if the night is
otherwise too silent. It synchronizes the
sound of an accelerating jet plane with the
movement of the crosshairs. Wlien sound

Tiger wants to ask

a friend to go camping.

Which friend «/ill I-

ask?

Tpf ^

fich SM Mlrh thisiity. ^ftn «ETU«Pt.

Tiger'n Tales

is selected the crosshairs transform into a
jet plane or spaceship. This is ftin, how-
ever, it makes centering on an object for
identification a bit more difficult.

The F5 key "Finds" any planet, constel-
lation, star or comet and predominantly
displays it in the screen's center It's a
shortcut for searching through the Sky
mode to locate the object. Tracking can be
used only with the Find command.

For following objects in real or exagger-
ated time the program's internal clock
rate can be set from (sUitionary) to 1 x
(actual time) up to 64 X for accelerating
elapsed time and the object's velocity. The
screen display shifts in accordance with
the clock rate.

Sky Tmvd allows the date to be set for-
ward or back 10,000 years (the obvious as-
sumption is that the galaxy abides even if
the earth does not).

The program's 61 -page manual includes
12 tolerable pages of instructions — actual-
ly short tutorials. The balance consists of
expanded examples, intriguing historical
trivia, a glossary and technical tables.

MicroUlusions also markets a version of
Sky Travel for the Amiga, entitled Plan-
etarium (S69.95). The Amiga version con-
tains a larger star database and, of course,
optimized graphics.

Tiger's Tales

Computer; Commodore 64

Ages: 10 to Adult

Publisher: Sunburst Communications

39 W;\shington Avenue

Pleasantville, NY 10570

(800) 247-1934
Price: $65.00

$195,00 (Lab Pack 10)
Emphasis: Vocabulary Comprehension,

ImageAVord Association

When I was a kid, (quite some time ago)
elective reading rated somewhere between
visiting the dentist and behaving in a
civilized manner.

For good reason. Because they were
static, those "See Jane Run" readers gen-
erated as much exhilaration as a stop
sign. Jane (an early jogging enthusiast l
forever ran and dormant Dick always
walked. Granted, most sis-year-olds don't
need much drama in their lives, but a bit
of enchantment in their literature would
be welcome.

That was then and this is now. Reflect-
ing the change in times and technolog)',
children's readers have taken a quantum
leap into the fliture. Representative of this
genre (yet a cut above) is Sunbm-st's
Tiger's Tales, an interactive reading pro-
gram featuring bright graphics and some
animation spiced \\dth a modicum of
myster>'.

Tigers Tales consist of five stories, rang-
ing in length from five to 13 pages
(screens) about Tiger the kitten's adven-
tures. Since the stories are interactive,
they have more than one conclusion or
storyline. Although Tiger is the subject in
all five stories, the tales are not serial,
they can be read in any order. Each stor>'
ends with an animated sequence.

Muppet Learning Keyboard

Simon .S'rii/.s

On each page the student is typically of-
fered three choices; the storyline branches
depending on the student's decision. Not
every choice leads to a continuation of the
story, some result in a logical dead end, so
further decision-making is required. Key-
board activity is limited to pressing RE-
TURN and controlling the cursor keys.

As with all Sunburst educational soft-
ware, reproducible worksheets are includ-
ed to supplement retention by visually
reinforcing the word/image relationship.

lb insure vocabulary comprehension,
students may choose between re\iewing
the words or reading the stor\'. The words
section consists of associating ten or so
key words v^ith a related picture. All key
words are either one- or t\vo-syllable
nouns and subsequently appear in the
story,

(beared to early readers (1.3 to 1.5
Spache). the computer keyboard may in-
timidate or confiase some students. Tigers
Tales is also compatible with the graphic-
oriented Muppet Learning Keyboard, The
Muppet keyboard has been around for a
j while, and it's still worthwhile (I hope that
description applies to me as welli. 'Fhe
brightly colored keyboard, while less
intimidating, still offei-s all of the
Commodore 64 's functions.

The Muppet keyboard ($99,00), unfor-
tunately, is not widely supported by other
publishers. Sunburst, however, markets
several programs that are compatible.
Tft'o others that desen'e a closer look are
Simon Says and Teddy and Iggy, lx)th are
memory-improvement progi'ams.

Featuring as its main charactere an
inchwonn and a teddy beai; Teddy and
Iggy ($65.00 1 employs geometric shapes,
colors and sequence to reinforce memory
and recall. Simon Says ($65.00), geai^ed to
younger children, uses colors, numbei-s or
letters in recurring sequence.

We, of course, do not know how the au-
thors of "Power On!" feel about Sky Travel
and Tiger's Talcs. We believe both pro-
grams would readily conibrm to their cri-
teria for being innovative, affordable and
useful. m

46 DECEMBER 1988

Jot New Simulations From The Computer Craftsmen At MicroProse

High Seas Adventure

Top Secret Air Strike

' Relive the
^i,.,-^~,, swashbuckling era
1^3^ of the buccaneer
Ww^^j^gy as a 17th century
i^^r^?"| privateer captain
• in.^r;.:;;vtt^a
<r, unique gaming ^^-J^a
blend of simula- '.

i tion, adventure
. and role-playing.
bu'M swordfight with other ship
aptains, storm the fortress of a
i/ealthy town, explore the Carib-
lean, and search for lost treasure.
, he goal: amass a fortune, gain a
'eputation, and retire to a life of
uxury. From award-winning game
designer Sid Meier, of F-15 STRIKE
,EAGLE and SILENT SERVICE fame.

Invisibility is your
greatest weapon
in PROJECT:
STEALTH FIGHTER
'^^ ,„^ a simutation of

" ^^ the Air Force's

unacknowledged
super-tech jet
fighter of tomor-
i row. You're the ^

pilot on top-secret missions to %
world troublespots. *

Daring Solo Missions

Become one of
America's most
ejite soldiers
in AIRBORNE

RANGER. Cunning
and fast reflexes
F are needed to
• ' sM*"* succeed on 12 solo
'"H missions deep be-

mm\

SiSMritt

St'Sm-ia

, - cnrr.l.N ■'■'"''':.'!.
Et Si nfW .: I yc-f^

ts: Panic Hit f '

^umd!"'* ^* ^ ^^'"^^ Mitroprose Retailer

(VMR) near you. Call for locations. If not

found locally, call for MCA^ISA orders

OBNF R4«?rB ,?" <S''35«led ,ela,i S39 95) and

PROJECTS'

by John lovine

Sound
Digitizer II

Here is the program listing for the
Commodore 64 version of Sound
Digitizer El (described in last month's
Commodore Magazine.) In the time be-
tween this issue and the last, I incor-
porated t^vo audio filters into the circuit
design to improve the overall fidelity of
the unit. (See schematic, t The filters are
comprised of two resistors and two capaci-
tors.

Anti-Aliasing Filter

The first filter coming in fh)m the am-
plifier is a low-pai3s filter iRl & CI). As its
name implies, this filter will pass low
sound frequencies and block high fi-equen-
cies. The purpose of this filter is to sup-
press sound signals whose frequencies aie
higher than half our .sampling rate. The
reason for this is that these signals will
distort oui- sound sample. This phenom-
enon is know as "aliasing."

High-Pass Filter

The second filter is a high-pass filter

SOUND
DIGITIZER II

MICROPHONE

(R2 & C2); it passes high frequencies and
blocks lower frequencies. This helps make
the plosive sounds such as P, Tand K
more understandable.

Tbgether these filters complement each
other and result in a band pass filter.

Program Operation

The program is similEO' to the program
for the Commodore 128. The differences
are as follows;

• The save and load routines do not add
the "SND." prefix to the file name, and
it has just one speed.

• The "R" key will still put the sample
into a repeating loop during playback,
but the time required for the computer
to see the key pressed appears longer.

• The 64 also appears to be more sensitive
to volume control on the amp. This may
require some adjustment to get good
samples. ^

MAIN MENU

1 2

14
Ifi
1 R
2«
22

2fi

Htfiirc Ivpins thi^ priijirjm rcail "Unw lo Enitr l'fosrim> jnd "How to Lst- ihc Miguinc
VMr\ Pnigram- llw ll,\M< proj:r.ifni in shis raagazint lit .i\3il2b1c on Jis1< from Loacfciif,
P.O. Box.MIDIlH.Slifcvfptm. U'lrW-DOO'. l-8(lU«.<l-2fi9.j.

Sound Digitizer 11—64

REM ***** 64 DIGITAL RECORDER
****** 'BDBH

POKE "56579, 255:POKE 253,0
:POKE 254,22:POKE 512F),f)

:POKE 5121,16'FMIM
PRINT TAR (7) " rCLEAR,D0WN71
: "'CCYJ

PRINT:PRINT TAB(7) "DIGITAL
RECORDER AND PLAYER"' DDSP
PRINT:PRINT"1) LOAD ML ROUTINE
rSPACF217) DIRECTORY" 'CBWG
PRINT"2> RECORD rSPACEIl]
P) QUIT" 'RAFF

PLAYBACK "'BAIE
LOAD SOUND SAMPLE" 'BAJI
SAVE SOUND SAMPLE" 'BAAK
CHANGE PITCH" 'BAXC
PRINTrPRINT TAB (2) "ENTER NUMBER
1-R rSPACE?! THEN PRESS RETURN"
: INPUT J'EFAM

ON J GOTO 63,26,23,34,18,46,58,
■^2'CYKH

PRINT" rCLEARl ": PRINT TAB (12) " [DOWN]
RKCORDTNG":SYS 486d:GOTO 6'FLPM
PRINT" rCLEARl " :PRINT TAR fl2) " TDOWNl

PRINT" 3)
PRINT"4)
PRINT"S1
PRINT"6}

PLAYBACK" :SYS 4941:PRINT" [CLEAR,
D0WN31 RETURNING TO MENU"'FKIT
■^a FOR T = l TO 15P[:NEXT:P0KE 197,64

:POKE 19R,CI:G0T0 6 ' HVAH
■^2 PRINT" rCLEART'iEND'CBFC
34 PRTNT"ENTER NAME OF .SOUND SAMPLE :"

: INPUT AS'CDTM
3fi PRINT" fCLEAR,D0WN4I LOADING. . "A$

:LOAD AS, 8,1: GOTO 6'DLLM
38 PRINT" fCLEAR,D0WN21 ENTER NAME OF

SOUND SAMPLE" 'BAYP
4R TNPHT BS : PRINT" f CLEAR, DOWN]

SAVING SAMPLE " ; BS ' CGRG
4? SYS 57812BS,8:POKE 173,22

:POKE 172,0:POKE 78n,172'EFDK
44 POKE 782,14R:POKE 78l,0:SYS 65496

: GOTO 6 • EVWK
46 PRINT" rCLEAR,D0WN41 DEFAULT SETTING

IS 38":G=PEEKf 5019) 'DIIQ
48 PRINT: PRINT"CURRENT SETTING IS "•
G'CDIP

5n PRINT:PRINT:PRINT"A SMALLER NUMBER

WILL INCREASE PITCH"'DCSN
52 PRINT"A LARGER NUMBER WILL

DECREASE PITCH" 'BAKN

54 PRINT: PRINT: INPUT"ENTER A NUMBER"-
A ' DEWL

56 POKE 5Cn9,A:POKE 5154,A:POKE 516f),A
:GOTO 6'EWBN

Continued on page 111

48 DECEMBER 1988

GAMESTAR WRESTLING FEDERATION HIGHLIGHTS

f Intense 1- orl-player tag team action
lets you thrasif computer challengers
or bust up your buddies - with pain-
inflicting ease!

i Each GWF maniac has his own mean
set of merciless moves -Pile Drivers,
Airplane Spins, Gut Busters,
and more!

HCW TOORDBB: Iffs/t your ntailei or cttl 800-Z27-S900 for direct Visa/MastarCsnl onlefs.

Direct price is S2S.SS for the Commodore 64/128' version. A ship/ring and handling charge of 54.50 applies to ali direct orders.

Sales tax will be added to orders in CaHfomia and Texas,

f Win the GWF championship belt, then
strut your stuff around the ring so the
chicks can check you out!

C^mmoderw M xcntas shown. Catoatv md Ttkt Dowa an tndamtrki of GimttMr Camatodota B4/12S tn ttgittend trvdamariii ofConuoodon Dntnaia Umited.

INSIDE Q-UNK'

by Robert W. Baker

Downloading
Help

Explore the inner workinjfs of the
Q-Link telecommunications
senice with network pro Hob
Baker.

A few issues back there was a discus-
sion about downloading problems
and potential causes or cures. Well, Q-
Link has added a special section in the
Software Libraries of CEN to help new-
comers and those who may not feel too
comfortable about downloading program
files. There are actually two areas of inter-
est— the DowTiloader's Starter Kit and the
Downloading Help Desk. There's a wealth
of information for new users in the Down-
loading Help Desk along with a Dowti-
loading Help Message Boaiti where j'ou
can ask questions about downloading. Q-
Link has assigned a staff member to man-
age this area on a full-time basis, so you
should get a response to your message in a i
reasonable amount of time.

Besides the message board and an over-
view of the area, you'll also find a list of
common questions and answei's, plus a
list of hints and tips for downloading. If
the world of telecommunications is new to
you, this is the best place to stait. You'll
find infonnation on the vaiious types of
software available, with comments on
copyrighted programs. Shareware and
public domain software.

Concerning the downloading oi>eration
itself, there's information on problems like i
being disconnected from the system, hav-
ing your computer lock up, or getting disk
error messages in the middle of a down-
load. As mentioned in the September col- '.
umn, Q-Link will issue credits for incom-
plete downloads under certain circum-
stances. Download credits are nonnally is-
sued for disconnects, lock-ups and similar
downloading problems, but check the in- ,
formation provided in the Downloading
Help Desk for more details. Since you'll
need to know the complete filename and
uploader's ID to get credit for the file you
were trying to download, be sure to scrib-
ble it down somewhere before you start.

Most lock-up conditions usually relate
to a minor problem mth the T^TiiNet net-
work. If you use TymNet and start to ex-

.--'^ Jr^h* ^i-V//.-

Si-^^nz'

perience this problem occasionally, there's
a patch available for the Q-Link software
to help overcome lock-ups.

Under the Q-Link Utilities in the Soft-
ware Libraries you'll find a download
patch program. It can also be do\«iloaded
directly, with a filename of "updateq"
uploaded by "QLink" to the library. The
Q-Link Update Program was designed to
help correct problems some people experi-
ence when dosmloading long programs
via the T^-mNet system. The file com-
ments contain complete installation
instructions that are pretty simple. All
you have to do is load and njn the update
program and insert your Q-Link disk
when requested. It only lakes a few sec-
onds for the progi-am to be updated.

Another update progi-am is available
for those with Q-Link disks without a ver-
sion number on them. This program will
activate the screen name ftmction on youi'
Q-Link program disk, so you can create
different names to use on Q-Link. You
should find the "screen names" file
uploaded by "QLink" in the same library
where the updateq utility can be found.

You only need to download and run this
program once, as indicated in the program
comments in the software libraiy. The in-
stallation instmctions are basically the
same as for the update utility: you simply
load and run the utility, then insert the Q-
Link program disk when requested. After
this feature is added to your program disk,
you'll have to log back on to Q-Link and
go to the Customer Semce Center to add
new screen names. There's a Create a
Screen Name function under the Screen
Names and Pi-ofiles area. Just follow the
prompts to add up to four additional
screen names to your disk. You're limited
to a maximum of five active names, but
you can delete and add names at any time
within that limit. Just keep in mind that ,

once a name is deleted it cannot be re-
claimed.

If you've added screen names to your Q-
Link Program disk, you'll i-eceive a
prompt to select the desil^^d screen name
whenever you log on to Q-Link. Your
original screen name will be the default at
the top of the list, with the added names
listed following that entiy. lb use a differ-
ent name, simply use the cursor key indi-
cate the desired name and press Fl or
RETURN.

Keep in mind that you cannot change
your selected name while online. You
have t« log off and then log back on again
to change your active screen name. How-
ever, having multiple screen names can
be a great advantage in spite of the incon-
venience involved in changing fiiom using
one or another.

The most obvious use of multiple sci'een
names is to create a separate name for
each member of your family all under the
one account. This way you'll get only one
bill each month 'aom Q-Link with all your
online charges combined. Another handy
trick is to create added names for online
notes to yourself via E-Mail. Oi- you may
want to use different names for various
groups and clubs when you're online.

Getting back to the topic of download-
ing, don't forget that you can save a lot of
time by directly downloading a file if you
know the fiall filename and the uploader's
id. You do not have access the comments
associated with the file when you down-
load directly. However, you can oi-der a
printed director}- of the available public
domain libraiies with a description for
each file. Combined with the direct down-
loading featmie, this can be a great time
saver You'll find infonnation on oitlering
a copy of the latest directory in the Down-
loading Help Desk.

Cantimied on page 60

50 DECEMBER 1988

The wait is over...

but the excitement
hasj just begtin.

ore than two years in the making, Warriors
- of Destiny sets the new standard fqjf role-
playing games. No other game can o|per<-
you as beautifully detailed a world .4fe *
or as exciting an adventure. "^ si. -^ -

Ultima V is the game for all
role-playing gamers: Warriors
of Destiny will enchant the
novice and challenge the expert.

Highlights of Ultima V

• Powerful new combat and magic Vs
systems, increasing in sophistication *^
as your sliill increases. '•!

• Over twice the graphic detail, anima>
tion and sound effects of earlier games. ,

• Hundreds of truly life-like people who can^
carry on complex conversations *
and interactions — i - •
with yoi

-.•Ai:-/^Ty^yu;-;

"mfo^

y^^^xvsi^-

Si^^s'k^

Wv^^

i I

r=^t

•^%^

fe^

Screen displays shown from Ihe
tpplo™ . Oyicrs maT vary.

tUltlma IV
i Ultima

Buikline 'K'

Available for: IBM-PC I Tandy / compatibles, Appts il Series, Commodore 54n2fl, Amiga, Atari ST.
> gst your copy of URima V, (1) visti your local retailer, (2) call 1-600-999-4939 Bam to Spm EST to order by VISA'MC, or (3) mail check (tl.S, S) or VIS A/MC #, cardlroider name
: and exp. <Jate to Origin, 136-B Harvey Road, Londonderry, NK 03D53. All versions $59,95 plus $2.50 shipping and handling. Allow 1-2 weelts for delivery.

ADVENTURE ROAD

Staying Alive:
How to Solve
Role-Playing
Games

News and opinion from a leading
explorer of those fantasy realms
called adventure games.

The main problem facing the role-play-
er is survival — what good does it do to
solve a puzzle if half your party is dead by
the time you figure it out? Or to finally get
your sticky little adventuring hands on
the Orb of OhBoylGotIt! if the rest of the
team gets wiped out by a lone ore while
carting it back to the Guild?

So before setting out to rescue those
hopeless folk who inhabit Britannia,
Skara Brae or some other fantasy world
(and what would these people do without
you to save them ftt)m every Evil Wizard
who happens along, anyway?], some pre-
quest preparation is in order. First, devote
some time to studying the manual. This is
much more vital than when playing a text
or graphic adventure — the fact that the
documentation for RPGs is usually 10-20
pages long and sometimes includes as
many as three manuals is the first clue to
their importance.

If it's a multiple-character game, study
the possible races and classes and their
strengths and weaknesses. On paper,
draw up a well-balanced crew that can ac- ,
cess as many of the various skills required ■
for success. (Of course, you won't know ex- ,
actly which skills are required, but that's
half the fim!) In a game system like Wiz-
ardry or Bard's Tak, which permits char-
acters to change class as they advance, a
wise Fmder of Lost Orbs will plot these j
changes out to their ultimate conclusion
for each party member, assuring a bal-
anced team throughout. In a good paper- ;
and-pencU RPG, character creation is of-
ten a diverting mini-game in itself, so ;
keep that in mind and have some fun be- !
fore you boot the disk.

The classic team for a six-member party ,
in a game involving magic is a pair of
heavily armored Fighter-types up front '.
(Dwarfs are often best), where they can

protect the poorly armored Priest-type (to
heal wounded members) and Wizard-type
(casting combat spells I bringing up the
rear. Middle slots may be filled with an-
other Fighter-type (usually only the first
three positions can attack with hand
weapons), an Archer, a Thief (check the
manual for comments on locks and wheth-
er you really need thiefly skills) or per-
haps a member of a class that can cast
spells as well as swing a battle axe.

Science fiction games call for a similar-
ly balanced crew, though their positions
are unimportant because they usually en-
gage in ship-to-ship rather than hand-to-
hand combat. Your Medic is the F*riest,
your Gunner the fighter, and so on. Sub-
stitute "alien planet" for "dungeon," and
the following principles apply equally to
SFRPGs.

A Plan of Attack— and Retreat!

Now that you've got a good team, how
do you keep them alive long enough to
loot a few temples and ransack some ores'
lairs? It helps to think of the overall quest
as a series of missions. Before entering the
first dungeon or wandering too far from
the first town, make a plan. Decide exact-
ly what you want your party to accom-
plish each time they step outside the shel-
ter of the Inn, Tavern or Guild. Set a clear
goal: to map a certain area of the maze or
countryside, to scout for gold or food, or to
slay enough Drool-Slimes so your Thief
can be promoted to the next level.

Then look at the team's Hit Points and
decide on a cut-off point that will ring an
alarm and send your team back to safety:

If yom- weakest member has fifteen Hit
Points, you may want to head for the
stairs when they fall to seven. The more
daring you are about stieking to your cut-
off point, the more excitement you'll de-
rive from the adventure. Also, the more
new party members you'll be able to force
to create to replace all the ones killed, or
all the gold you'll have to spend resurrect-
ing them, because you didn't head back to
the Guild in time. (You should also deter-
mine a cut-off point for combat in games
that permit you to fiee.) These two simple
rules — choose a goal, then pick a cut-off
point and obser\'e it— are the keys to suc-
cess.

Management skills must also be devel-
oped, for the successfijl role-player of com-
puter games must manage a plethora of
resources and responsibilities that would
drive most corporate executives right up
the wall. You've got hit points, spell
points, food, gold, weapons, maps and a
fantasy world fiill of new diiscoveries to
keep track of, so drag out a three-ring
binder and plenty of paper.

Keep records on each character so youll
know how many experience points he
needs to reach the next level, who's got
which item and so on. And don't forget the
maps. Instead of graph paper, with those
tiny squares, use map sheets like those
provided in Might and Magic: a grid of
dots, which you connect to draw walls —
this way you never ask that fatal ques-
tion, "Is that line a wall I drew, or the line
on the graph paper?" (Hordes of monsters
usually appear within microseconds after

Continued on page 60

52 DECEMBER 1988

D I i_ n L I II

F-19 STEALTH FIGHTER will turn your computer into the hottest
flying mactnine on today's electronic battfefront. Ttie graphics are
that vivid ... the game play that challenging ... and the realism
that convincing.

Learn the secrets of stealth flying — maintaining a low
electromagnetic profile to avoid enemy radar and mastering the
tactics that only a stealth pilot dares to try. We've painstakingly
reasearched stealth technology — and we make it real!

I I U I I I I- l\

You'll discover hundreds of action-packed scenarios in real-world regions
— from a deep-strike mission in North Africa to a reconnaissance flight
over Central Europe. We'll train you in the basics, but only your skill and
cunning can save the day. pg^t^ring

• Carrier and land based take-offs and landings

• Advanced electronics, counter-measures

• Intelligent enemies — land, sea and air opposition .— "

• Realistic flight experience '^:-

For Commodore C-64/128

Can't (iod F-19? Call (301) 771-1 151. weekdays Bam lo 5pm EST and Ofdef
by MC-VISA; or mail ctieck-money order for S44,95 for C-64'1 28, U.S. funds
only. MD residnnts add 5% sales tax. Free shipping in U.S.; S5.00 interna-
tional. Allow 1 -3 weeks for U.S. delivery.

'^^^St^Su?

lao UWEFRONT DRIVE • HUNT VALLEY. MD 21030

Amiga Public
Domain

Again this month I don't have any new
Fish disks to talk about, however,
there are a bunch of programs that I ob-
tained from PeopleLink and local BBS's.
This month some of the highlights include
a new demo program for PeopleLink's
graphical teleconferencing program AGO,
a new terminal program and a major up-
date to an established terminal program,
plus a new animation display program.

For each program, the author is given
when it is known. If I obtained a PD pro-
gram directly from PeopleLink's Amiga-
Zone, I list the AmigaZone download file
number (if no file number is given the pro-
gram may still be on PeopleLink, but I ob-
tained it somewhere else), so those of you
who have access to PeopleLink can quick-
ly download this file. \Vhen a public do-
main program has been classified as
shareware, this is also mentioned with the
suggested amount.

ACODerao: by Steve Pietrowicz
(AmigaZone file #12878 and 12879)

This is a demo that Steve created (for
display at PeopleLink's booth at the Chi-
cago AmiEXPb) to demonstrate the capa-
bilities of AGO version 3.0, the graphical
teleconferencing program used on People-
Link. In addition to the main portion of
the demo, which shows off most (but not
all) of the major features in AGO, there is
an introductory piece in which "Partner"
(as in ACOPartner, for those who have
used AGO) is introduced in a short skit
along with Steve. The entire ACODemo
was created with The Director. For those
who have heard about AGO before, but
have never seen it in action (especially if
you never saw my review of A(50 version
2.0 in the December 1987 installment of
this column) and are wondering what all
the commotion is about, this is the demo
you need to see!

Moria version 2.0: by Biyan Henderson
(AmigaZone file #12781)

This is the first update to the fantastic
fantasy role-playing game Moria, (re-
viewed in the October installment of this
column). The most noticeable improve-
ment over the first version of Moria is
that color graphics characters have now
been added to Moria. Even more impor-
tantly, the color graphic characters in

Moria 2.0 are much better than those
found in either Hack or Lam. The other
major change is that Moria 2.0 allows you
to easily make backup copies of your char-
acter You can now copy the chai'acter file
via AmigaDOS Copy instead of having to
back up the entire disk with the likes of
TlirboBackup or a commercial disk copier.
Other changes aren't as major, but still
worth mentioning. New weapons and
monsters have been added. As far as mon-
sters go, the new additions of the Laven-
der Leprechauns and the Big Blue Icky
Things make possession of any money
whatsoever much more rewarding, since
both monsters are very adept at stealing
you blind. The on-screen stats section now
displays maximum as well as current at-
tribute values (which makes it much easi-
er to prudently manage your supply of Re-
store Attribute potions), as well as dis-
playing the current mana and hit point
values. The starting equipment for most
characters has been improved. Finally, for
those who have a habit of putting your
character into hopeless situations, there is
now a "grovel" command, in which you
can beg the "powers that be" to save your
character fixim a deadly pi'edicament. Of
course, you will soon find out that even
angels don't work for free.

Walk: by Eric Daniels
(AmigaZone file #12981, 12982 and
13061)
This is a stunning Sculpt! Animate 3D

□y Graham Kmsey

Emimation of a chrome pair of legs walk-
ing over a checkered floor Those of you
who have at least one megabyte of mem-
or>' (make that 1.5 MB if you want to hear
the digitized sounds i will be amazed by
this great example of the results you can
achieve by using reflective surfaces in
ray-traced animations.

GT: by Greg Cunningham
(AmigaZone file # 12968)

This is version 1.2 of GT, which is a ter-
minal program with some very different
features. For instance, GT has no menus
whatsoever Instead, GT has a set of gad-
gets where the title bar would normally
be. lb use any of these title-bar gadgets,
click on the right mouse button. This is
sure to surprise (and possibly confuse)
many Amiga users at first. GT's protocol
Ust includes WXmodem (for PeopleLink)
and Ymodem. There is limited script file
support, in that you can attach a set of IF-
THEN-type statements (up to twenty per
number) to each and every number that
you dial to automate the log-on process. It
supports autoredialing, including a queue
sj'Stem. GTalso supports phone directo-
ries, although unfortunately it does not
support the AMIC PD TERM phone direc-
tory format needed to use Chet Solace's
The Final List. Although I can't say I was
as excited about GTas many of the folks
on PeopleLink, it is a reasonable alterna-
tive to the likes of AMIC PD TERM and
Communicator and is worth considering.

Access! version 1.4: by Keith Young
(AmigaZone file #13151; Shareware: $25)
This is version 1.4 of Access!, the coior-
fiil terminal program I talked about last
in the August 1988 "Amiga Public Do-
main." Version 1.4 holds many improve-
ments. The routine in Access! that allows
you to load and read text files has now
been removed and has been transformed
into a separate program. However, if you
are running Access! when you load the
text reader program (called "rd"), rd's win-
dow will appear inside the Access! screen.
Also text files are now loaded completely
into memory for faster scrolling. If you
clear the screen (by selecting an option
like a spHt screen or switch to'fiiDm an in-
terlaced display!. Access! will re-display
any text that was on the screen before the
screen was erased. For those who use Bill
Hawes' commercial shell product WSHeU,

Continued on page 56

54 DECEMBER 1988

urNPics

By Dynamix, Inc. and Greg Johnson

Before corporate sponsors and fashion gear, there were Cavemen.

Competition ^M^as ugh-ly. Athletes won by isashing the other guy

first. Pick your favorite Ugh-lympian. Club your v^ay through six

pre-hysterical events. Beat your friends to the Caves Of Fame.

^*^^^ Mate Toss

j^#yii^

x^^

..•.7-;>. ■■■ J

■

"Swing fosf circles. Remember
let go. Good for medals. Not good
for getting dates"

— Crudla.

Dinosaur Race

"Club dino head, go faster.
Too much club, dino bite dust,
Vincent hate dust^'

—Vincent.

"Become one with club. Don't
fall for look-at-birdie-in-sky trick.
Don't check feet for fleas."

— Glunk.

The greatest

Neanderthal

athletes

of all time

their secrets.

"Rub sticks fast. Moke bright,
ouchy hot thing first. Try not get
dizzy. Remember to duck"

— Ugha.

"I like plant pole in totolly
cave-ularsand, soar high In air, wave
to way-hungry dino"

— Thog.

Sabertooth Tiger Race

_: J . ■ \ ' -^^,-t ■■■'■■ ■ -*

-^^J^'M'^-^

"Run fast fast from tiger. Watch
out for cactus. Trip other cave-guy.
Him big lunch for kitty"

— Gronk.

Visit your relailefs of coll 800-245-4525 from U.S. or Conado

8am to 5pfi\ PST. Screen shots represent C64 version. C64 is

Ci pr'TROMTP ARTS* o registered trademark of Commodore Electronics Limited.

Amiga Update/Amiga Public Domain

Continued from page 54

Access!'s NewCLI command will open a
NewWSH right on the Access! screen in-
stead of opening a NewCLI.

You can now load in a font of your
choice into Access. When using chat
mode, you can even use two different fonts
at once; one for the bottom send window
and a separate one for the top receive win-
dow.

The phone directory now includes
"Multi-Dial" gadget, which is Accessl's
version of queue support for it's aut»re-
dialing. Although Accessl's queue support
is basically of the sequential type (Similar
to AMIC PD TERM, and unlike Online!,
which has a more powerful user-program-
mable queue system), Access! at least al-
lows you to tell it which number in the
queue it should dial first (after dialing
ijiat first number. Access! proceeds to dial
in a sequential fashion).

Keith has introduced script support
with this version. Script commands can
send and receive ASCII text (including a
command that will toggle an ASCII cap-
ture), send a beep to the console, execute
EF-THEN-type statements, set an inter-
nal delay period, hang up the modem,
send a string to the modem and create la-
bels. Of course, Access! allows you to at-
tach a script file to any phone number in
its phone director^'. However, Access! does
not sacrifice phone directory compatibility
with the AMIC PD TERlVLThe Final List
standard to do this. There have been
many other enhancements, including
MoreRows support, increasing the size of
the Review buffer, color graphics changes,
so those who use only two bitplanes with
Access! will still have a decent looking
screen, and more.

Although Access! still doesn't support
the powerhouse protocols Ymodem and
Zmodem (Keith says these are in the
works), Access! is becoming a formidable
terminal program. There's now much
more to this terminal program than just
pretty colors!

BattleFort: by Ralph Reed
(AmigaZone file #12787; Shareware: $25)
This is not a new game, but rather the
new name for version 2.0 of Ralph's com-
plex robotic combat game BattleMech,
(last discussed in the September install-
ment of this column). The reason for the
name change is that BattleMech now has
a new component to the game. Instead of
just two or more players controlling robots
in combat against each other, robots can
now attack a computer-controlled fort in-

stead. The most important aspect about
the additions efforts is that you can new-
play BattleFort by yourseff against the
computer. As you might expect, you can
design your own forts for BattleFort, but
only after you send in your shareware fee
to Ralph.

Video-Film: by Jim Robinson

This VideoScape 3-D animation is a se-
quel to the animation TfeUStar reviewed in
the September installment of this column .
Video-Film is also a three-part animation,
although this time several spaceships are
flying by a planet instead of just one, and
the views are a bit different than in Tbll-
Star.

ClickDOS: by Gary Yates
(AmigaZone file #13438; Shareware: $15)
ClickDOS is another entry in the long
list of DirUtil (Directory Utility) pro-
grams out for the Amiga. ClickDOS in-
cludes a small size (32K), iconification
support, built-in commands and a prefer-
ence for FAST memory instead of CHIP
memoiy whenever possible.

Snap: by Jerry Fitzpatrick
(Shareware; $25}

This poor man's version of SPICE will
perform nodal analysis on various electri-
cal cireuits. Snap includes support of de-
pendent sources, and will analyze a circuit
with up to 50 nodes and 1(X) components.
The input file for Snap is a simple text file
format.

Addlcon: by Donald Meyer
(AmigaZone file #11957; Shareware: $10)

This is a powerful program used for cre-
ation and/or modification of icons. Its sim-
plest use is to create icons for a file, or add/
alter icons for each and every file in a cer-
tain directoiy, including any sub-directo-
ries. Wildcards are allowed, and you can
also have Addlcon ask you for each file if
you want the program to touch it or not.
Workbench users can even use extended
selection to tell Addlcon which files to act
upon. However Addlcon goes far beyond
that.

First, you can tell Addlcon to touch only
certain types of files, for example, files
that are flagged by Workbench as Pro-
jects, Drawers and/or Tbols. Addlcon even
allows you to be much more specific. You
can tell it to work on executable files, text
files, IFF pictures (including different res-
olutions), ARC files and/or ZOO files. And
naturally there is a configuration file in
which you specify what file extenders de-
note that a particular file falls into one of

the 13 programmed file types (unfortu-
nately the user can not add his own file
types).

You can also tell AddlCon to modify
only certain aspects of an existing icon.
These options include changing the im-
age, stack size, icon type, default tool, po-
sition and/or tool types. In the fiiture Don-
ald plans to add a file requester as well as
a means to add an automation process, so
the user can program a default operation.
This would enable Addlcon to automati-
cally perform that operation when asked
without additional user input.

BarsnTone: by Mike Berro

(Shareware: $15)

If you work at video on your Amiga,
this program can help you fine tune your
equipment. Barsnlbne generates a
SMPTE color bar pattern as well as a
IKHz tone. The tone volume is adjustable
within the program.

Bugs: by Jimmy Maher

(AmigaZone file #11823)

For those who have the Amiga session
record/playback program Journal, this ar-
chive contains five Journal files which
demonstrate five different bugs in version
1.2 of the operating system. Included in
the demonstration are examples of the
window resizing bug and the annoying
Workbench 'Tcnown volume" requester
bug,

IBM: by David Donley
(AmigaZone file #12686)

If you liked the joke Commodore 64
emulator I mentioned last month, then
you're really going to like this joke IBM-
1 PC emulator! For you worry-warts out
there, when you see a Guru first, don't
panic.

Space: by Richard Stockton
(AmigaZone file #13180)

For those who already have a clock pro-
gram, but are still looking for a titlebar
program that displays info on free mem-
ory and drive space, Space contains four
different such programs. Most of them dis-
play how much fiiee space is left on the
disks in drives diO: and dfl; as well as how
much free memory is left in RAM: and
vdO;, although one also displays iree space
left on df2:, df3: and dhO:.

Stairs: by (jeorge Nolan
(AmigaZone file #12978)

A good-looking SculptlAnimaie 3D ani-
mation of a metallic ball bouncing up and
down a set of steps. Although the ray-

56 DECEMBER 1988

Amiga Update/Amiga Public Domain

traced graphics are quite good, the anima-
tion of the ball as well as the digitized
sound effects could use some improve-
ment.

VirusX version 1.7: by Steve Tibbett
(AmigaZone file #13213)

Here is version 1.7 of the powerful and
vital virus detection/elimination program
VirusX. Last month I reviewed version
1.4 of VirusX. Version 1.7 of VirusX in-
cludes detection of three more viruses.
The Byte Warrior virus and North Star
Antivirus were created to combat destruc-
tive viruses in the first place, but instead
they have simply made the problem
worse. VirusX also now looks for the "Ob-
elisk Softworks Crew" virus. As I've stated
before, if you think you have been infected
with a new virus, please send a copy of
this virus to Steve so that he can update
VirusX to detect and eliminate it. Finally,
for those who are thinking about writing
an anti-virus virus program, don't do it!
You are making the Amiga virus situa-
tion worse, not better!

DiskX version 2.1: by Steve Tibbett

This is version 2.1 of Steve's disk editor
DiskX, (discussed in the November 1987
installment of this colunrn). Some im-

provements to DiskX include interlace
support, the ability to search for any AS-
CII string on a disk, support of all DOS de-
vices, case independent string searches
and recoverability of files that were de-
leted with the AmigaDOS DELETE com-
mand. DiskX now uses arp.libraiy, so you
need to install ARP on your Workbench
disk before loading DiskX.

SPUDclock: by H. Bret Young

This unique clock program will speak to
you. You can tell SPUDclock when to tell
you what time it is. For example SPUD-
clock can announce the time every hour,
every half hour or eveiy quarter hour. The
volume of the speech is adjustable. You
can give SPUDclock a message to say
when it announces the time. For those
who like to run their Amigas 24 hours a
day, you can even give SPUDclock start
and end times for which to wake up and go
to sleep, and when SPUDclock wakes up
or goes to sleep, it announces this with a
polite "good morning" or "good night."

BetterSpeech: by Dexter Orange

If you don't mind the overall quality of
the Amiga speech, but are annoyed by the
ridiculous pronunciation of some words,
BetterSpeech can help. BetterSpeech will

intercept any word the Amiga incorrectly
interprets, and reinterpret for it. Better-
Speech's exception list comes with almost
50 entries, and you can add to that list if
you like.

Xboot: by Francois Rouaix
(AmigaZone file #13011)

This small utility will transform the
code on the boot blocks into an executable
file. If you have a disassembler or debug-
ger, this will allow you to take a closer
look at any boot blocks in which you sus-
pect a virus.

Display: by Martin Hash

(AmigaZone file #12785)

Finally a superior alternative to
ShowANIM has arrived. Although Dis-
play was first written to show animations
created with Animation : Apprentice iix)m
Hash Enterprises, Display also will show
any ANIM format animation as well.
Some of the features Display supports in-
clude varying the playback rate, freez/e
frame, single-frame mode and display of
fiume numbers. All these ftmctions can be
accessed via the keyboard while the ani-
mation in playing, instead of having to
specify in the command line with

Continued on page 109

Ann ST. ConmodU! 64 ■ ;23

Suie ftu'fE to'irg "ore fun Ihan
you aver Ihougtll possible. See how
vou feel eiter the neil 23 levels.

Hit the streets with two romps
through the urban jungle.

First, Metrocross. A high-speed race tiirough
level after level oi twisted subway tunnels. It's you
against the clock. And a barrage of barriers bent
on your destruction. Like rats the size of taxi cabs.
Good thing you've got a skateboard and a cata-
pulting springboard or two.

Or be the coolest cat in town in Street Cat. Navi-
gate your way through a tangle of city streets. And
compete in the craziest events ever dished up by
man or computer. Like oozing your way through the
slimy sewers. Or bowling fof bulldogs. Whatever
the event, it's sure to bring out the animal in you.

U S Gold II a irjdemarl d1 GO firenca Lid Wslrctrq^s and Siraa! Ca! aia iLcarwd licm
&0 Anefica Ltd Mflrccross is a Irademail o1 Nsmto Lid Cana program lar Merrocrois
C.13B& Namco Lid Afl rrghli resarved, Um pregram for SIroot Cat
c laH? Solljold/ Raintia* Arts c; 193B Ewi, Irr:

Nd other gams serves up brawi^y
bullrlogs for you to bowl over.

^lip, Atari SI CtrrnrrinioiB M/13B.
IBM r^ £ Conpatrbis-

UPDATE"

by Matthew Leeds

Allen Hastings:
Film Maker

Allen Hastings' creation of VideoScape
3D was part of a natural progression
that started in a seventh-grade BASIC
programming class in junior high school.
By the ninth grade he had written his
first 3D program on the school's HP 3000;
it printed out pictures of the Death Star's
trench using a teletype terminal and
ASCII characters. Two years later he
started working for Lockheed in their So-
lar Physics department writing image-
processing software in FORTRAN for Tbk-
tronix terminals. He has been both work-
ing for Lockheed and writing software
ever since.

In November of 1985 he purchased his
first Amiga. Less than a year later he
showed the first movie produced using
what was to become VideoScape 3D at a
First Amiga User's Group (FAUG) meet-
ing in Belmont, California. Titled "Venc,"
it was an interstellar saga of space war
shot with an 8mm film camera and trans-
ferred to videotape. Since then he has pro-
duced "Infinite Loop," "ANIM Demos,"
"Apocalypse Real Soon Now," "Halloween
3D" and "The Machine."

His newest film, "Rush Hour," breaks
new ground in several areas. It makes ex-
tensive use of HAM imagery, shifts from
black and white to color and back again,
runs about two minutes in length, and is
one of the first three Amiga videos to be
accepted into the SIGGRAPH film and
video show.

SIGGRAPH (Association for Comput-
ing Machinery's Special Interest Group on
Computer Graphics) is the oldest contin-
ually running annual conferen(» for com-
puter graphics. It is considered by many
to be the most significant computer
graphics event of the year. SIGGRAPH is
a combination of panel sessions, courses,
exhibition, film and \ideo show, art show,
special interest groups and social flinc-
tions. Individuals and organizations re-
sponsible for advances in computer graph-
ics technology present discoveries and in-
novations through formal papers and dis-
plays.

SIGGRAPH, held in Atlanta during the
first week of August, drew 20,000 people
who attended more than 28 courses, pre-
sentations of 37 technical papers . 13

panel discussions, and wandered through
exhibits of over 250 vendors. Commodore
Business Machines previewed the Amiga
at the 1985 SIGGRAPH in San Francisco,
and it has remained an important venue
for the Amiga's remarkable graphics.

The SIGGRAPH Film and Video Show
is known as the world's premier event of
the year for computer graphics animation.
Film makers and computer animation
specialists from around the world submit
their most technically excellent pieces for
this prestigious event. Selected pieces are
chosen on the basis of innovation in tech-
nology and visual creativity by a jury of
computer graphics experts. Tickets to the
film and video show are so valued that
they are often scalped at prices usually
found only at rock concerts.

This year, for the first time, SIG-
GRAPH selected three Amiga-generated
entries for their celebrated Film and Vid-
eo Show; "Rush Hour," Winners Circle
Productions' 'Time and Again" and Byte
by Byte's 'Ttesktop 3D" were featured.

Special events at this year's SIG-
GRAPH included a night-time laser light
show at Geoi^a's Stone Mountain nation-
al park. The laser beams create dramatic
stories, flm characters and graphic images
choreographed to popular, jazz and classi-
cal music. The laser show is projected onto
a natural one-million-square-foot granite
screen.

I interviewed Allen Hastings just prior
to his departure to Atlanta regarding his
fthn "Rush Hour." Allen talked at length

about the inspiration for his films, the
techniques he uses and some thoughts on
the creative process:

Allen Hastings: The film Fm doing for
SIGGRAPH is created entirely with inter-
laced overscan HAM images. The film is
being made with a new program; I guess
you could consider it either a new version
oiVideoScape or an entirely new program, 1
depending on what else I add to it before
it's finished. It has some new features like
texture mapping, and it also supports the
use of a 68020 with a math chip. Fm using
the Hurricane board with a 68882 math
chip.

I used Aegis Modeler 3D for all the ob-
jects in the film. It is definitely the most
logical and consistent user interface. The
different selection modes and the way in
which all the operations work in each se-
lection mode are very intuitive. It's an ele-
gant system, and it is also very precise. It
only creates the polygons required for an
object, without any extraneous points or
polygons left over. Some other object-cre-
ation programs create objects mth extra
polygons inside the object that just slow
down rendering or interfere in other ways.

Modeler also keeps its coordinates con-
sistent. Some other programs don't always
keeps points at the exact same locations
all the time. In the film, I did a lot of real-
world simulation, pictorial-quality anima-
tion. Modeler lets you use real-world mea-
surements like meters and kilometers.
The film was an attempt to model the San
Francisco Bay Area in 3D, in particular
downtown San Francisco, That turned out
to be too big a job, but I did succeed in cre-
ating a very detailed Golden Gate Bridge,
which features prominently in the film
along mth lots of detailed cars. I spent
about four months designing everything
for the film.

I just close my eyes and see it. I can
imagine in 3D. I often do that as I'm fall-
ing asleep. Unless I picture it in my mind,
I don't know where to place the objects and
how to move them.

The film is a fantasy that most people
have when they are stuck in rush hour
traffic. The title of the film is "Rush
Hour." It's about a driver stuck on the
Golden Gate Bridge, trapped in a long
line of cars. He drifts into a fantasy where
his car transforms into a Lamborghini.
Wings slide out from the sides, and he be-
gins to take off and fly over everyone's
head. I thought about that for a long time.

58 DECEMBER 1988

Amiga Update/Allen Hastings; Film Maker"

The film is veiy short, no more than
about two minutes, although that is quite
a long time for computer animation. It's
long enough to get the plot across, and
there are a lot of exciting developments
that occur. He gets chased by helicopters,
runs out of gas and falls; the helicopters
accidentally blow up a landmark. The
whole thing is very fast paced. Finally he
drives up to his home, a nice place on the
coast, and the sun is setting into the
orean; a loud car horn sounds and the
scene fades back to the bridge where a
small gap has formed in the line in iront
of him. The beginning and end of the film
are done in black and white, and the
dream sequence is done in color.

When I create a film like this I start
with a stoiyboard. I draw still frames for
each scene and try to keep in my mind de-
tails like camera angles and that sort of
thing. There are a lot of film-making rules
that I use to make the editorial flow go
nicely. It is verj' important to keep the di-
rection of objects, left to right or right to
left, consistent during the film.

I started out making films with models
and stuff, not computers, I did claymation,
used plastic models, anything that I could
get my hands on. I also read a lot on direc-

tion, film-making. That's something any-
one interested in film-making should do,
regardless of what they are using to make
their films.

I haven't always been able to get my
films to come out the way I wanted them.
Sometimes the tools are just not there yet.
A good example is when I was limited to
making films vrith ANM files. I had to
limit myself to camera motions that
would work in an ANIM file. They had to
be small enough and short enough to play
back smoothly, and that cut out some of
the scenes I wanted to do. Now that I've
gone back to single-firame animation, I
can do whatever I want motionwise.

I use a Sony 5850 y4-inch single-frame-
capable video recorder interfaced through
a Lyon-Lamb single-fi-ame controller This
lets me record my film a single fi-ame at a
time. The setup works perfectly, no
glitches, no missing frames, and no multi-
ple frames. The single-framing capability
in VideoScape works just fine with tMs
setup, but I wrote my own controller soft-
ware to work with the new animation soft-
ware I'm using.

The software I wrote lets me single
frame AMM files to the 5850. It turns out
that I had to do it that way instead of re-
cording after rendering. The new software

takes longer to render a frame because of
its use of interlaced overscan HAM, and
the extra time exceeded the time the 5850
would stay in record/pause mode without
damaging the tape. I could have used the
Microlllusions transport controller and
rendered each frame as an IFF file, stored
it to disk, and then single framed them to
the 5850, but the amoimt of storage need-
ed for the number of frames I created
would have required an optical disc for
storage. Storing them as compressed
ANIM files worked much better. The en-
tire file fits on about a third of my hard
disk.

Using the Lyon-Lamb controller the
pre-roll time is about five or ten seconds.
Adding the time to bring the image up
still kept me within the record/pause limit
on the 5850. When Infinite Loop was cre-
ated we hand edited on a 5850, and there
were some duplicated frames. I did discov-
er during editing on Rush Hour that the
Sony edit controller is only accurate to
about two frames, so its not as accurate as
the Lyon-Lamb.

I did use an S-VHS Panasonic AG-7500
as an experiment, and I found it was sin-
gle-frame accurate. They don't claim that
it is but it was. The coimter is not accu-

Continued on page 66

events. Ba/anShf^^"'"^)'

cbS^g^

;--*«l

&:.

^:.

'Vv,\

m^^

\-Ky

■ :r^\

lintensely fun games from

■:^^%Vi•i:i^^i

COMMODORE MAGAZINE 59

Inside Q-Link/Downloading Help

Continued from page 50

Most of the files you'll download fkim Q-
Link are meant to be used on your Com-
modore 64 or 128 system, but there are
other files available. You'll find files and
programs for the Amiga, MS-DOS and
CP/M machines as well as GEOS-related
items. Each of these has a special method
or utility required to get the file to the ap-
propriate environment once it's download-
ed to your 64 or 128 system. Q-Link can
only upload torn or download to a 64 or
128 system, so check the various special
interest areas for additional information
on handling these situations.

Always be sure to check the description
and comments associated with a file be-
fore you download it. Many times you'll
find important information on how to
start or use the program that may not be
obvious. Also, there should be some indi-
cation of special file fonnats that may
need to be converted before the files can be
used. Be sure to watch for ARC, Lynx, Li-
brary and other file archives created to fa-
cilitate downloading a group of related
files as a single file, besides compressing
the data to save transfer times.

By the way, one user recently asked
about the serial numbers that appear in

every message in the message boaixls and
in every file description in the libraries.
Well, these numbers are assigned when-
ever a message is entered or a file is
uploaded to the system. The serial num-
ber appears in the header line following
the "S#" prefix and uniquely identifies
each message in the system.

The serial numbers are used primarily
by the folks at Q-Link for system mainte-
nance when deleting or relocating a mes-
sage. So if you're reporting a problem with
a message or file to link, include this
number with any other pertinent infor-
mation to make it easy for the people at
Q-Link to locate a given message.

Another recent user comment con-
cerned comparing the cost of using People
Connection to the new local telephone hot-
lines or party lines. They pointed out that
at $6.00 per hom' on Q-Link, you actually
get quite a bargain compa]^^d to as much
as $60 per hour or more for the new wave
of party lines.

Well, that's it for another month. Keep
those comments and suggestions coming,
and maybe I'll mention your screen name
here in print some day! As usual, 1 can be
reached almost daily via E-Mail to
RBaker. Hope everyone has a happy holi-
day season! g

Adventure Road/Staying Alive

' Coniiniii'd from page 52

an adventurer asks this question, or ut-
ters any of the following: "Now where am
1?"; "Those stairs were here a second ago,
weren't they?"; or "Nothing can kill my
party now that I've got this Magic Ob-
ject!")

A neat trick that vrill spare you hours of
redrawing the same maze is to tape a
piece of clear plastic over the map sheet
and draw on it with a liquid-based pen
like the kind used with overhead projec-
tors. When you make a mistake, just wipe

; it off and redraw it — much easier and less
messy than erasing lines drawn with a
pencil. After the maze is completely

'' mapped, copy it to paper and file it in the
notebook, since you'll often have to return

I to a dungeon later in the game.

Maffic and Combat

1 lb work wonders with magic, reread the
manual and study any relevant clues.

' Many monsters are particularly suscept-
ible to one spell or spell type. Once you've
discovered that Smokey the Ogre's weak

, point is a Fire s]k11, you've got it made.
Look for convenient ways to restore spell
points, for the toughest mazes sometimes
have a few Spell Regeneration squares

Adventure Road/Staying Alive

scattered about.

EiFective combat means mastering a
few elements of tactics and strategy. Long-
range weapons (and spells) can wear a
group of monsters down before they get
close enough to wear your group down,
then a few well-placed swords and maces
will finish them off. Magic weapons often
exist, though you may have to experiment
to learn their effects and most appropriate
targets. Sometimes their targets are ap-
parent, such as the Golem Staff in Wiz-
ard's Crown.

In a Hurry? Cheat!

A few words on cheating— it's your fan-
tasy, so if you want to cheat, go right
ahead. (All's fair in love and dungeons, I
always say.) Some people, and it's amaz-
ing how many of them are game design-
ers, will say you're only cheating your-
self—but you paid the $39.95 for it, so
you're entitled to do with it as you please
(ex{»pt, of course, make 40,(X)0 copies and
give them to all your friends.*

Some games have bugs, others suffer
design oversights that leave loopholes
large enough to fly a Golden Dragon
through. But why complain when these of-
ten allow you to quickly score thousands

of experience points or gold and build up a
powerful party in no time? Once your
team can muster enough MIBL and
DRBR spells to defeat the Berserkers (at
5N, 12E, 2U in the Castle) in Bard's Tale
I, for example, you can return there and
wipe them out over and over and over —
netting 60,000 experience points for each
character every time. Yes, it is repetitious
and boring. But so is getting killed over
and over and over . . .

In many RPGs, you can return to the
spot where you found the Sword of Sockit-
tome and — lo and behold! — it's still there.
You can arm someone with the powerful
weapon or sell it. Programs that erase
items when taken ( Wasteland) can be
sidestepped by simply making a new play
disk of that particular dungeon disk or re-
setting the dragon (Wizard's Crown).

Li many games that permit you to
make several copies of your character
disk, you can move people back and forth
to "clone" weapons, objects and gold.
Here's a quick lesson from Phantask I:
Make two copies of the scenario disk, then
label one "good disk" (the one you want to
keep playing on) and the other "dummy."
After you get lots of potions (crucial to this
gamel and weapons and other valuables,
sell everything you want cloned to a Tbwn,

say Pineville (Tbwn 2), then teleport to
Tbwn 3. (When you teleport, the program
writes to disk the fact that the goods are
now in the shop in Town 2.) Remove the
good disk and insert the dummy.

Tfeleport to Tbwn 4, insert the good disk
and teleport to Tbwn 2. Buy back the stuff
you just sold, insert the dummy disk and
teleport to Tbwn 3. (The purchase of the
goods is now written to the dummy disk,
so as far as the program is concerned, they
are still in the shop in Town 2 on the good
disk.) Insert the good disk and continue
cloning, or proceed with the real game. By
noting when a program writes things to a
disk, you can find loopholes like this in
lots of games. (But always make a back-
up of your disks before tr^nng such ma-
neuvers, just in case something goes
I wrong— you are, after all, fiddling with
j bits and bytes for which the programmer

has reserved exclusive fiddling rights.)
, Ivet me emphasize that the above meth-
: ods for cheating should, in the opinion of
This Adventurer, be used only as a last re-
sort. Observe the Adventurer's Creed-
get the gold, kill the monsters, save the
land— and apply the preceding advice,
and you'll have a clear conscience and feel
a stronger sense of accomplishment when
you finally solve the quest. ra

irsiMR.

And the fate of the free

Fasten your SEatbelt. lai'te in
foill«[ti]glighlDl¥Dyrlile.

world rests in your capable hands. Take hold of the
controls and your wits. Because 20,000 feet
below you thunders the most
feared battleship in all of Ger-
many's fleet: The Bismarck.
Enemy fighters zoom above you,

anxious to turn you into fish food. And all around you

lurk treacherous U-Boats, E-goats and minefields.
Steady, mate. Remember all those practice flights?

With these details, its no wor.* we fJflW it'S fOr real. YOU'Ve OOt
(lyinttieteolF-iBStnkeEagle ... . . ..^ .

position reports to monitor in-
coming intelligence. A fully
detailed instrument panel. And you can fire from
one of two gunnery positions. All of which'll come
in mighty handy when you've got 42,000 tons of
riveted killing machine in your sights.

WELL CAPTAIN, IT LOOKS LIKE F-15 STRIKE EAGLE' IS^T SO STRIKING, AFTER ALL

DIVE BOMBER

F-15 STRIKE EAGLE

Easy la us8, lully ilelailed instrumenl panel

Of course

Mope

Look oi enemy planes S ships

True to life

Stick figure

Pace of enemy attacks

Constant

Lagging

Tal(eofls

Breathtaking

Nonexistent

Landings

Brace yourself

Liinited

Nola CtiirpaciiDrs aft t)*l»d M curiifit Applfr IBM, anilCommadore 6iy1?B virvoni ot rUg p<rgdi;cl

Appft II Sotnti i Cane jtitil (1. Atnri Si CQnrrD(!ori< Q<f 128. IBU H i CDnoitiblil. Sciteni Irom Ami ST nniGn ot Ihi gim»

US GDliJ'>! slr^dETArkolCOArfnralld &ami progriiTi li»ns(!ifrDm&0 AtntricsLTd C1387 A>cni( Anlmjligr/GfRinlinCripllKsLtd c ISBB E|Iyi. !nc

from
US. GOLD'

Create

fonts up'
to 192
point.

These days,
you can find
all kinds of pro-
grams that call themselves
desktop publishers. Oh, one
may drop a drawing here or
create a column there. But
don't let anyone kid you.

Nobody's got anything like
geoPublish.

You see, geoPublish is
a real desktop publisher.
With hundreds more features
that unleash your layouts
across an endless number
of pages, and leave your
non-GEOS friends frenzied
with frustration.

Texl

autnnuitiL")tty
flows aixund
jiraphk's.

"Full featured desktop
publishing on the Com-
modore 64? Including
laser printing? If I hadn't
seen it with my own eyes
on my own Commodore
64, 1 wouldn't have
believed it, either."

— MicniTimes, March, 19KH

With geoPublish, you pour
your geoWrite text into col-
umns and around graphics.
Automatically. You can use
any of the 21 preset page

layouts or any of the zillions
you come up with yourself.

After that, it's off to fun
city.

The geoPublish toolbox
is filled with goodies that
help you create all kinds of
special effects in almost
every area, for example, you
can customize over 80 GEOS
compatible fonts. In bold,
italic, underline, or outline.
In any combination you
choose. Up to 192 points
high.

"Ofthe three soft-
ware packages I used
(geoPublish, Personal
Newsletter, Outrageous
Pages), geoPublish most
resembles professional
desktop publishing

programs:' _,,,,Marchl988

And that's just what you
can do with type. You can
also create columns. Boxes.
Banners. Enlarge or reduce
graphics. Zoom in for detail
work. Preview the entire
page. And print the whole
thing out on a LaserPrinter
for a razor sharp look.

Of course, those aren't the
only reasons we're excited
about geoPublish. It's also
because major magazines —
like the tough guys at INFO

miRESTORir.

— are raving about it, too.
Saying that people will use
geoPublish "to retire their
Print Shops and Print Mas-
ters" and that "Newsroom
pales in comparison'.'

geoPublish Features
General

• WYSIWYG. What-You-See-Is-What-You-Gel.

• Import graphics froni (jeoPaiiU.

• Import graphics from Print Shop. Newsnjdm.
I'rinl Master'" using (IHOS Graphics Graliber
(sold separately witli l»eskpack I'lus).

• Full page aiiti zoom disiplay modes.
•On-screeii rulers, digital cursor control allows

exact placement in full page edit modes.

Work in full paw prci ieiv iiukIc

Zoom intoacitial size

WK "^ >Xrii 4:? Cf4a^lJ

GEOPUBL
MAKES BIG H

Lreate ill i-^il r p it.i

fc>swjn^ s^"*^

^M'

Ij J«llilKfllHHrB^< 1 LJ ^ >^*!
I DiKMetiub lap" ^ LI w -^CJ

■I

ilmtK Wi«fc- ^Vfi]

J4 jTt(T(.r>li^

Flow tex! into coiumns

Huadlmes in -t lo 192 poiiitb

Easy t;ni|)liic object manipulation

Hey, with press like that
what more need we say?

Well, we can say we ve got
even more features. In fact,
a whole What-You-See-Is-
What-You-Get wish list in the
chart to your right, filled
with features that mean busi-
ness. Things like text in any
pattern and automatic font
smoothing and stuff that
nobody else ever thinks of.

So if you're serious about
desktop publishing, take a
look at geoPublish. For Com-
modore owners, it's the only
feature story worth
taking seriously. The brightest minds are working with

• Supports over 80 GKO.S tompatihle fonts in
point sizes rauKiiiK from -1 lo 192 point (.1)15"
to 2.6").

• ['lain, bold, underline, outline, italic, super-
script and subscript, and any combination of
these typestyles allowed for each font.

• Supports dot matrix and Post Script laser
printers. I

• Supports up (0 16 pages in length, larger docu-
ments can be created by setting the startinfi
page number.

Master Pa^e Mode 1

• Support for left and ri^jht master pages.

• Set up to Hi guidelines for aiiiinK graphic and
column layout.

• Automatic page numbering can set starting
Diige.

• .'\utomatic date stamping.

• Full graphic tool box for master page graphic
design.

II Softworkfe

• Library feature for saving m;(ster page layouLs.
product comes with a master page library with
several standard layouts.

Page Layout Mode

■ Imports text from any Commodore word
processor.

• F'lcxible design and piacement of text columns,
column layout, size and combinations can be
altered at any time.

• Built-in editor supports full wonS processing
features of geo Write 2.1 for text flowed into
geoPublish columns.

• Snap to guides feature allows for easy layout
using master |)age guidelines.^

• User-scltctable gutters (space between
columns).

• Support lor unanchored (flow with text) as well
as anchored (text flows around) graphics.

• Automatitally flows text around graphics and
from pag(! to page keeping track of up to 16
separate Kord processing docdments. '

Page (irni^hic Mode

• Contains a complete object oriented draw pro-
gram. Graphic tools include:

' Place picture: Picture can be centered and clip-
ped, scaled to any size, stretched and scaled.

• Special text: Any font may be output in any
point size from 1 to 192 point. 1ext may also be
primed in any st>'le and in any of the 'Sl (jEOS
s)sleni patterns. Text may be printed either
horizontally or vertically.

• Lines, connected lines and curted lines
(splines); may be drawn in 8 different thick-
nesses, have round or square eildpoints, and be
drawn in 32 different patterns.

• Rectangles, polygons, circles, and ellipses: may
be framed orunfnimed and filled williany of
the .'i^ system patterns. Frame thickness can
also be varitd.

■ Any graphic object or group of objects may be
selected at any lime and moved, cut, resized,
brought to the foreground (drawn on top of
everything) or pushed to the background
(drawn unddr e\orything).

• Automatic smoothing option for pictures and text.

• .-Ml tools work in either full page preview mode
or zoom mode.

To order call 1-800-443 -0100 ext. 234
geoPublish

(California residents add 7% sales tax. )
$2. 50 US/$5. 50 Foreign for shipi)inK and
handling. Allow six weeks for delivery.

KkMnniis, Ud. IjliUS. #npWrilt, >vil'jinl. *iid Btrtj:k-> Siai^ijfki.ir,-
vMrfUltits I'f K*TVrlty SJflw*trks 1^1 nl Sl<iip, lYira M,K,tiT ind Ni^MiHni

GEOPUBLISH

Berkeley.

Until now(
you and your Commodoie

could only talk to
each other.

Welcome to Q-Link.

You and your Conimodore' probably
have a very good relationship. But even the
best relationships need to grovv^. That's why
there's Q-Linic.

Q-Link connects you v/ith tens of
thousands of friendly, interesting people all
over the country. Share stories, talk shop,
tell jokes, or just shoot the breeze with
them in a whole new way. On your
Commodore.

When you and your Commodore start
talking to the rest of the world with Q-Lin]<,
exciting things start to happen.
Tilings that are sure to improve
your relationship. Like playing
the latest interactive, full-
color games. Taking college
courses. Accessing over L5,000
software programs. Enjoying
guest speakers on a wide range
of topics.

And Q-Linl< gives you a
direct connection to the experts
at Commodore headquarters as
well as the major software pub-
lishers -a Q-Linl< exclusive.

Tliere's so much to do on
Q-Link, it can't all fit into this ad.
For that, you'll need our full-color
program guide, with a complete
calendar of events and activities.
And you'll get that free from
Q-Link every month.

going and there's plenty of online support
every step of the way Like Q-Linl< support
groups and helpful Q-Guide experts.

Getting into Q-Link.

You'll love being a member of Q-Link.
You pay only S9.95 a month (and any local
phone charges) for "Basic" service, which
includes unlimited access to the latest
news, sports, and entertainment informa-
tion. Even a full- featured encyclopedia. We
also offer "Plus" services such as

CALENDAR

^ of Events

AUGUST

itxm

^91

AUGUST

txaA

ItCMl ,
Mil »*«.••**«**

U, »rtUSt"«*

Sam «•"«■;

A special ofiFer,

If you don't have a modem, Q-Link will
help you get one at a price lower than
anyone could imagine. For details, take a
look at the attached card, or call
1-800-782-2278, Ext. 1582.

You'll also get a free Q-Link Starter
Kit, including software. It's easy to get

shopping and travel
reservations for only 8c: per minute extra.

It's time you and your Commodore got
out and talked to more interesting people
than just each other. And on Q-Liiilc, it
couldn't be easier.

7.: jom Q-Link new, call:

1-800-782-2278

Ext. 1582

Add new life to your Commodore!

Allen Hastings: Film Maker

Contunied (rnm paj;e 59

rate, but if you go by what you see on the
monitor, and move using the jog shuttle
dial, it works fine. I couldn't test it with
the Lyon-Lamb controller, since it needed
a different cable. It took us about two and
a half hours to do a five-second scene by
hand, and we decided that was enough for
a test. Without the computer controlling
the recording it takes a very long time to
lay it down on tape.

It is also easier to get access to editing
facilities if you use ''/(-inch tape. I work at
Lockheed, and we use Vj-inch stuff there.
That's another reason I got the 5850; I can
do some of my work at home instead of be-
ing in the ofiice, I use an Amiga at work to
create some short simulations, satellite
flybys, that sort of thing.

Fm much more excited about film-mak-
ing than programming. I have been doing
a lot of programming to support the fea-
tures I want: the textui'e mapping and the
black and white scenes in ovei-scan hi-res
with sixteen gray levels. That way you get
the smooth shading and highlights that
you get in HAM without the HAM arti-
facts that othenvise might mar the scene.
You could even get a sepia tone effect to
give it an old time look. Q

Software Reviews/Impossible Mission 2-

Conlinufd from page 26

They have equipped you with
a highly sophisticated pocket
', computer with many great
functions to help in your
quest.

room, arm time bomb to blow up safe, and
arm mine for agent to place. In order to
use one of these you must find the proper
commands. When your selection is com-
pleted, click the fire button, and the com-
mand you have chosen will be carried out.

Summary

Impossible Mission 2 combines a unique
blend of strategy, arcade action, graphics

i and sounds to come up with one of the best
game sequels ever [)uring play, you can
either pause or save your current position,

. allowing you to continue where you left
off. Also, you will find that the manual
gives a full, easy-to-understand explana-
tion of the game. I have been plajing for
two months now, and I stil! can't complete

i it (therefore, not so many hints). In fact,
you might even say this game is impossi-

ble to conquer, but even' game has its
Achilles heel (now if I can just locate it on
Elvin). If you enjoyed Impossible Mission
or just like an e.vciting strategv'-action
game, then you are bound to enjoy this ex-
citing sequel!

Pocket Hints for the Super Agent

• Time is something you can't afford to
waste. The save game option is one impor-
tant feature you should use to youi- advan-
tage. When exploring either a new pas-
sage or room, save the game before enter-
ing. Once you have figured out how to get
past the obstacles, retrieve the music from
the safe and exit, then load the saved
game. This will allow you to complete that
section of the game in better time, since
you have done it before.

• Check your security code numbers as
fi^uently as possible. Once you have the
music and security code, exit the passage.
Don't waste precious time searching for
more security icons for the computer, for
there will be plenty to obtain in the next
passage.

• If you can't enter a room from your
current position, then exit and move to
the room above it. In most cases you will
find a lift that will take you to the room
that was impossible to get to. Q

Explore the Newest World of Software

On a Video!!!

If you want to gel the most from your
computer, here's good news: Twenty
of thie top software developers in

the US and Canada have been
brought together in a full-length
showcase of their hottest new prod-
ucts. All on a unique video which is
an important software buyers guide
and tfie first and only "video ency-
clopedia" of software applications.
Experience all the sights and sounds
of the latest software developments;
explore descriptions and demonstra-
tions in the comfort of your home.

What Reviews Alone
Can't Show You

We've included full color and sound
"how to" demos of the most exciting
Art, Video, Music. Entertainment,
Desktop Publishing, Educational

and Business software. Fully produced on
and featuring the Amiga®, many programs
also have C-64® and C-128'" versions

available. You'll experience the wide
range of Commodore® power

Includes
Rarely Seen Software

imagine performing surgery with
medical simulation software or
exploring the universe with an
astronomically true space exploration
simulator Preview desl<top publishing
and video programs. Examine the
specialty software used to produce
hit records and television pro-
gramming. These are rarely seen
programs that you should know
about to make informed purchasing
decisions — to get the most for your
money At $39.95, this tape can save
you many times its cost So please,
take a minute to call or write. We
have a whole new world to show you.

66 DECEMBER 1988

In USA 1-800-344-2525 Extl

In lyj 1-800-348-8181 Extl

or send check or m.o. for $39.95 + $4.00 p/h to-

VldeoAdvantage, 1229 Poplar Avenue, ti/lountainside, NJ 07092

NJ residents please add 6% sales tax

Amiga. C-64 and CommodOfe am registered irademarfcs of Commodore. C-1 2B is a trademark ol Commodore.

128 MODE

A Plethora of
j 128 Stuff

This month instead of the usual type-
in program, we will look at a plethora
of Commodore 128 items, several of which
j have been weighing heavily on my heart
the last while.

Plethora Item #1: The 128D

j The Commodore 128D is certainly not
news these days. Lots of you own them. I
own one. But for those of you out there
wondering; should I sell my original 128
and get a D model, here's my advice:
Yes.
j That was blunt enough. Now here are
! my reasons. For one thing, the keyboai'd
I is so much nicer that it alone may make it
I worth it to you. Being a writer, this is an
' item of true concern for me. I love the
128D's keyboard. It isn't just the improved
tactile response. The fact that you can
move it on youi- lap or out of your way (1
put mine on top of the computer when I
need desk room) makes it really nice.
Another reason to trade up to the D
model is that the new machines have the
new ROMs in both the 1571 drive and the
128 itself. These are a definite improve-
ment. No more five-minute strip searches
on disks in the 1541 format before allow-
ing them to boogie. No more CAPS/LOCK
uppercase Q bugs. Not only are the bugs
gone, but the 128D also boasts an exti-a
48K of video RAM for the 80-column
mode. This is quite valuable to the ma-
chine language progi-ammer as well as
users of SAS/C 8.

Third, the solid metal console might be
reason enough to make the trade. Now
you can set your monitor right on top of
the computer. To my observation, ever\'-
thing about the 128D seems more sohd
and durable. The system keeps cooler,
there's no bulky power supply to mess
with . . . it's simply a well-designed system
(except for the joystick ports, which are a
pain royale to get at).

Fourth, it has a built-in disk drive. Not
only is this convenient, it offers a subtle
benefit that you'll really appi-eciate: fewer
cords to get tangled behind the desk.

Finally, if you've been wanting to add a
second drive to your present system but
just haven't had a good enough excuse to,
this is it. Sell your present 128 computer
(keep your 1571) and buy the 128D and
you'll end up with: 1) a two-drive system.

2) a new computer and drive complete
with warranty, and 3) only about $250-
$3(K) less in your pocket than when you
started. That's only a little more than
you'd have paid had you simply bought
another 1571 drive.

Of course, we're not all made of money.
I, of all people, underetand that reality.
But I speak from experience: I bought the
128D and have never regretted it.

Some of you may be wondering: why
should I invest more money in an eight-
bit computer? Isn't it the twilight of these
machines?

My opinion: yes. it is the twilight of
eight-bit computei-s. But it's like the twi-
light on the North Pole— a real long one.
(You know, up there there is only one day
and one night per year with one mean
long sunset in between.)

Your Commodore 128 does everything
you need, unless you are chomping at the
bit to get into desktop video. \Vhen you're
ready for that, get an Amiga. But if word
processing, databasing, spreadsheeting,
game-playing, progi'amming, telecomput-
ing or educating are the reasons you own
a home computer, then eight is enough.

For my money, the Commodore 128 is
one great machine. I may be biased — I do
wiite this column — but I've used MS-DOS
machines, Apples, Radio Shacks, and oth-
ere and, bias or not, the 128 is the best of
the lot.

Plethora Item #2: 128 Books

One of the hidden costs of owning a
computer is the cost of books that you will
want and'or need for your machine. The
following SLX I bought with my own mon-
ey. Here are my observations:

1) The Commodore 128 Programmer's
Reference Guide (Bantam Books). This
thick book (743 pages) has gobs of useful
info about youi' machine. Hardware buffs
will find the specifications chapter indis-
pensable. For me the most usefiil chapter

was one which details how to program the
80-column chip. My advice: every 128
owner should buy this one.

2) Mapping the Commodore 128 (Com-
pute! Books). This is a must for program-
mers and a "good-to-have" for most every-
one else. I would not be %vithout this book.

3} Computers 128 Programmers Guide
(Compute! Books), This book is tj-pical of
books by Compute! — packed with useful
info that you won't find anywhere else.
And it is like other Compute! titles in its
readability. There are also many useful
routines which progi-ammers and tinker-
ei-s alike will find useful.

4) 128 Internals (Abacus). This was the
first book of any value out for the 128
back in the eaiiy days. It also has a whop-
ping 232 pages of ROM listings which are
virtually useless to all but intense hack-
ers. Also, this book contains several chap-
ters on the VIC and SID chips which are
mostly just a rehash of infomiation you
can find in books for the 64. If you're look-
ing for ROM listings, buy this book. Oth-
erwise, save your money.

5) BASIC 7.0 Internals (Abacus). This
book also contains gobs of commented
ROM. For those of you machine language
programmei-s who like to tweak BASIC,
it's indispensable. For the rest of you,
you'll get better value for your dollar with
this and other magazines.

6) Commodore 128 Troubleshooting &
Repair (Howard W. Sams & Co.) If you are
a hardware hacker, this one looks good. I
say "looks good" because I'm not a hard-
ware hacker, and I didn't really need the
book. But that doesn't mean you won't
find this book quite useful. Let me put it
this way: if you don't know how to read a
voltyohm meter, don't buy this book.

Plethora Item #3: Twin Cities 128

A lot of you 128 owners out there prob-
ably haven't ever heard of this 128-specif-
ic magazine. There's a reason for this: the

COMMODORE MAGAZINE 67

128 Mode/ A Plethora of 128 Stuff

folks who put it together— mainly Loren
and Avonelle Lovhaug— have built this
magazine from the kitchen table up, and
they've done it on a shoestring budget.
Advertising doesn't come cheaply, so they
have depended on word of mouth.

Well, let me add some words from my
mouth: as a 128 owner, you need to check
out this magazine. I like it. The latest is-
sue is 28 pages in length, and 25 of them
are advertising-free. The content of the
magazine is typical of all computer mags:
reviews, technical tips, and a few short, tu-
torial-style, type-in programs. It also
seems to have quite a bit of fresh news
fix)m the 128 front (psst, and some hot ru-
mors).

I suggest you buy their new book, Tivin
Cities 128 Compendium Book #1, which is
a collection of the "best of their first 18 is-
sues. If you like what's in it, you'll want to
subscribe to the magazine (S25.00 per
yearl. Order from Twin Cities 128. P.O.
Box 4625, St. Paul, MN 55104.

Plethora Item #4: GEOS 128

Since I write the GEOS column for this
magazine, there's no sense repeating what
comments will be found there. I would like

to say this, however, while in "The 128
Mode." GEOS 128 is a vet^' useful pitxluct
if you're interested in a di-op-down menu,
graphic environment. If you don't own
GEOS, I think you should.

The question is, if you already have
GEOS, do you need the 128 vereion? The
answer is, it depends. It depends on
whether or not you use a GEOS program
as your main word processor. If \'ou do,
then GEOS 128 is worth buying. It allows
you to see the full w,idth of the page on the
screen, and that is the reason a lot of us
bought 128's in the first place.

Other than that reason, until Berkeley
comes out with more 128-enhanced GEOS
applications, there's really no extra value
in having the 128 version. However, if
they do as nice an upgrade for the 128 ver-
sion as they have done with GEOS 2.0 for
the 64, then it's time to take your bujing
shoes back out of the closet.

Plethora Item #5: The C128
Developer's Package

I have been spending some time with
this software package from Commodore. It
comes with two disks which contain an ex-
cellent assembler, a super editor, a whole
gob of utilities, mouse routines galore.

bui-st routines, and fast loadei-s for 64
mode. It's simply a plethora (there's that
word again I of progi'ammer's goodies.

How much does it cost? About $50.00.
It's worth it because it offers so much. I
don't have time to detail all the goodies
within but here are my impressions of the
editor'assembler:

The editor, called ED 128 Full-Sci-een
Editor, has been patterned after Digital
Equipment's EDT screen editor It allows
you to type in your machine-language
source code much the same as a word pro-
cessor allows you to type yom- lettei-s. You
can cut and paste blocks of text, search
and replace text, jump all over the docu-
ment with minimal key presses, have
lines longer than the screen width, scroll
up/down left/right, change word case, and
more.

The assembler, HCD65. is a profession-
al-quality assembler patterned after the
same one used by Commodore systems
software engineers. It allows you all the
conveniences of a frill-featured assembler
plus an advanced macro facilitv^ which al-
lows you to do all kinds of things I haven't
experimented with yet. What I like best
about it is that it is verj' easy to use. There
aren't a lot of unnecessary' parameters

68 DECEMBER 1988

" Pllt

youreelf
in their
shoes.

Be Michael
"The Slam-
mer"Jor-
y ;-M 1 dan or
^ MJ Larr>'"The
Shooter"
Bird. You
decide who
wins. Is it today's
most exciting player,
MVP Michael Jordan, or
the I'layerofthe Decade,
Larry Bird?

Jordan and Bird-
Software Designers

Michael wanted quickness,
speed and air Larr\''s fadeaway
and svveetspots were critical.
Power Jams for Michael,
Larry's 3 point bombs. They

got all they
wanted plus jab
steps, pump fakes, 'shot
blocks, steals, 360° dunks and
more.

One On One is Three.

Jordan vs. Bird vs. You in
three ultimate matchups-
One On One, the Slam Dunk
Competition and the 3 Point
Shootout.

For IBM/Tandy.
Commodore 64 ;ind
128 compulers.VisJt
vour retailer or call
800-245-4525 from
US or Canada. 8am to
Spm Pacific Standard Time. IBM 1,5 a
registered trademark of International
Business Machines.Tandy is a regis-
tered trademark of Tandy'Corporation.
and Commodore 64 and 128 is a
registered trademark of Commodore
Electronics Limited.

ITie Qa-ssic Conrninladiin,' One On

Oni'.The crowd goes crazy as
Michael and Lany unload all their
patcnied moves.

.Vrial WaifarE: The ,\ir Jordan Slam
Dunk ConresL Up to 4 playciN chal-
lenge each other or Michael him-
self In a battle of Rawer Jams.
Designed bv Jordan.

ELECTRONIC ARTS"

IjonK Range Bonihing: 3 hunt
Sh()otouL25 shots In 60 seconds
ti-om 23' out. Don't h)ow the money
ball. Lirn-'s signature evenl.

128 Mode/A Plethora of 128 Stuff

needed to get it to work.

Plethora Item #5-B: Names and
Numbers

John Dvorak, noted computer colum-
nist, iiecently struck a chord wth me
when he wondered why computer manu-
facturers were so big on letter/number
product names. Like the HCD65 men-
tioned above, the OS'2, or Tbxas Instru-
ments' inciiedible tongue-twister, the TI
99/4A? Folks hated the name of Tandy's
TRS-80 so much that they simply
changed it to "TVash 80."

Sorry to say, Commodore has not es-
caped the number mania. PET was a good
name. Then came the VIC-20. VIC, I
liked, but the 20 was a step down, Next
came the Commodore 64, the Commodore
128, and now the Commodore 128D.
Unnh! It hurts. And don't forget the 1541,
1571, and now the 1581 disk drives. Not
much personality in those names.

Think how much more flavor it
would've added to call those three disk
drives "Laiiy," "Moe" and "Curly." Well,
maybe that would make them seem a lit-
tle less smart than they are so how about
"Aristotle," Tlato" and "Socrates'?

When Commodore came out with the
Amiga, I thought, "Now here's a machine
with personality." Even the chips inside
that machine have interesting names like
"Agnes" and Tortia." Unforttmately,
they're abeady tacking numbers onto the
end of its name. Still, Amiga is a great
product name.

Trivial point? The sales success of the
64 and 128 would seem to say that it is.
But maybe not. If computers really do in-
timidate people, then maybe it's time to
make their names a little more charming.

Case dismissed.

Plethora Item #6: WarpSpeed
Cartridge

I have been using this product from
Cinemaware for several months now, and
I like it, A lot. It is superior to FastLoad
with its utilities (especially if you have a
two-drive setup), and it works in both the
128 and 64 modes (though you do have to
flip a switch). It also has one of the fastest
copy utilities around which has a sophisti-
cated data cnmcher which cuts down on
disk swaps. Get it.

Plethora Item #7: 128 Compilers

I have been working on an arcade game

in BASIC which will settle the question
once and for all of whether a commercial-
quality arcade game can be written in
BASIC via a compiler In my efforts I have
unearthed some important information
that would-be compiler-ers should note.

For one thing, the Abacus compiler does
not allow you to use the SPRSAV com-
mands. This is a great pity because, 1)
this is one of the best statements available
in BASIC 7.0 and 2) Abacus' compiler is
the fastest of the ones I've used. It even
allows for machine language compiling
which is really fast.

Blitz! 128, the other most often-used
compiler for the 128, allows SPRSAV
which is good. But it seems to do all kinds
of strange things with some of the more
esoteric graphic statements. I have writ-
ten to Skyles and am awaiting a response.
I will report more on this in that upcom-
ing two-part series,

Pleth'ed out? I could go on and on, but
space is at a premium. After more than
three years now of thrashing on my Com-
modore 128, 1 feel compelled to end this
piece on this note: the 128 is still the best.
It's a machine with a plethora of charac-
ter (I just wish they'd called it "Hurdler"
or "Spirit" or "Moses.") D

COMMODORE MAGAZINE 59

..x . f-..

-^^^scciiisi

IG^;^

Commodore Magazine is sponsoring our fourth annual Graphics Contest. Two categories
are available for aspiring Commodore artists: Commodore 64 and Amiga. Winners will
receive a cash prize, and the winning graphics screens will be published in the June 1989
issue of Commodore Magazine.

COMMODORE 64 CATEGORY PRIZES
Grand Award: S500 and publication in Commodore Magazine
Five Runners Up: $100 and publication in Commodore Magazine
Honorable Mention: Publication in Commodore Magazine

AMIGA CATEGORY PRIZES

Grand Award: $500 and publication in Commodore Magazine
Five Runners Up: $100 and publication in Commodore Magazine
Honorable Mention: Publication in Commodore Magazir^e

GRAPHICS CONTEST RULES

1. This contest is strictly (or amateur artists. Anyone wtio deiivoa more Itjan

1 0% of his her annual income trom tho sate ot original artworX is ineiiglWe.

i. Employees of Commodore Magazine, inc.. Commo<Jore Business

Macliines. Inc., Commodore Electronics Ltd., Commodore International Ltd.,

thefr advertising and promotional agencies and their immediate families are not

eligible to enter this contest.

3. Each entry must tje whotly the product of the deveioper in whose name the

entry has tieen submitted. Copyrighted images are not eligible. This includes

record album covers, movie figures, tarrwus paintings and cartoon characters.

Outside assistance is expressly prohibited and will provide causa (or

disqualitication.

i. A maximum of two screens per person is allowed. You may submit either two

screens (or one computer or one screen for each computer. If a coittestant

submits more than two screens (or consideration, ail of that person's entries will

be invalidated.

5. All entries must be submitted on disk, 1541 format for the Comnnodore 64

and 3,5-inch format for the Amiga, with the following marked clearly on the

disk's \abG\:

a. Contestant's name, address and phone number

b. Picture tflle(s)

c. Graphics package or programming aids used to create the graphics

d. The words ' 'GRAPHICS CONTEST' '

A photo of the screen display or a printed copy ol the screen does not constitute
an acceptable entry,

6. All entries must t>e postmarked r>o later than January 31 , 1 989. Mail to;
Commodore Magazine, 1 200 Wilson Drive. West Chester, PA 1 9380, ATTN:
GRAPHICS CONTEST

GENERAL CONDITIONS

• Graphic screens are judged on ofiginality, creativity and best use of the
computer's unique graphics features,

• Entries will be judged by the statf of Commodore Magazine.

• Ivlake sure your maiier will protect your disk from damage. A((ix sufficient first-
dass postage. Maii your disk and the official entry blank to the address shown
atwve. Commotfore Magazine accepts no responsibility (or lost or damaged
entries.

• Entries will become the property of Commodore Magaziite, which reserves
the right to adapt, use or publish all entries received. No entries will be retumed,
so l>6 sure to make a copy of your entry Ijefore you submit it to the contesL

• Non-winning entries will not be acknowledged. Winners will be notified by
March 1 S, 1 939. Taxes on cash prizes are the winners* responsibilities.

:v^

(PL£/«EPHim

Name

Address

CJty

State

Phone (_

Signature

_Zlp.
-Age.

Parent's Signature

(If Contestant Is Under 18)

Picture TItte #1
Computer

Graphics Package/
Programming Aid Used .

Picture Title #2.
Computer

Graphics Package/
Programming Aid Used

m='

ALL ENTRIES MUST BE POSTMARKED BY JANUARY 31, 1989. MAXIMUM 2 SCREENS PER CONTESTANT.

ardware

by John Pustai

'■. • »;a

CompuTrctifter

■•' QUICK

BROWN nox

24 Cp*^-^^ *•

Robotic Worh/iop

Multibotics, Inc^Actess Software
iH9.95 Home Version (MB230)
S199.95 School Version (MB230T)

A complete robotic and scientific
worksiiop which contains an in-
terface unit, a ten-foot remote-
operation cable, motors, sensors,
Capsela-based construction com-
ponents, software and instruc-
tions for 50 projects and experi-
ments. Projects include infrared
sensing systems, digital storage
oscilloscopes, digital voltmeters,
speech digitzing and playback
systems, cars, cranes and robots.
Challenging for the beginner (re-
quires no knowledge of pro-
gramming), individuals with
minimal understanding of BASIC
programming, and to the ad-
vanced programmer and hob-
byist.

MODEL CAT 6000

CompuTrainer with Racer-Mate
Challenge Cartridge

RaterMate
S595 for Trainer
S99.95for software cartridge
A bicycle trainer that electronical-
ly matches road conditions. Hills,
wind conditions and rider's mo-
mentum are all controlled. An
eddy current brake adjusts the
difficulty of the ride based on the
microprocessor information. Us-
ers can ride on famous bike
courses via the monitor, or create
their own custom courses, or
even have computer-generated
random courses. The Racer-Mate
Challenge cartridge allows users
to create timed-trial training ses-
sions and compete against their
own past performances.

Quick Brown Box
Battery-backed 64K RAM
Brown Boxes. Inc.
SI 29.00

This cartridge has the capability
of saving an entire series or
"box" of programs in one oper-
ation. The series is saved as one
long sequential file and is easily
retrievable as an entire unit. The
lithium 3-volt battery is expected
to last from 7-10 years. Utilities
include a loader program, an
auto-boot program, a separate
manager program for either the
64 or the 128, a check-sum pro-
gram, and a cartridge checker
program. The excellent manual is
very detailed and accurate.

WarpSpeed

Cinemaware Corporation
W9.95

This fast load utility cartridge in-
cludes a DOS wedge, a sector-edi-
tor, a machine language moni-
tor/assembler, file utilities, and
drive re-numbering capabilities.
When used with a Commodore
64/1571 disk drive setup, disks
can be formatted and saved to
without flipping the disk in the
drive. A whopping 1328 blocks of
storage possible without this flip-
ping procedure. Commercial soft-
ware with "normal" copy pro-
tection will load about four times
faster.

konTroller ^

Suncom —?

$19.95

This keyboard-mounted joystick
is designed especially for the
GEOS-based system and mounts
directly to the keyboard surface.
Its easy accessibility provides a
more reliable input than a
mouse, and it's not as bulky as a
normal sized joystick.

Non- vo/atiVe Memoo' Cartridge

Scinort Micro
$24.95

This 8K, static RAM memory car-
tridge uses standard two-year AA
carbon-zinc batteries. Any data
loaded into the cartridge can,
therefore, remain in the RAM for
up to two years. The cartridge it-
self allows instant screen or func-
tion changes, or users can make
instant changes to the BASIC in-
terpreter or KERNAL. Storing BA-
SIC or machine language pro-
grams for easy call-up in a man-
ual mode is also available. In ad-
dition, linking a set of programs
for any language or application is
a part of the versatility of this car-
tridge.

i :l.-4^il.^^M

72 DECEMBER 1988

by Dan Schein

FlickerFixer

MiaoWay
S59S.0O

FlickerFixer is a de-interlacer card
for Amiga 2000. Winen used with
a multisync monitor, this board
provides a worl<station-quality
displ ay that rivals VGA or the
Mac II.

PRD-44

Pioneer Computing
1999.99

PRD-44 is a 44MB removable car-
tridge wfinchester disk drive for
the Amiga line of computers. It
offers unlimited off-line storage
and 25-millisecond access time.
Requires SCSI interface.

PC-Elevator 3S6 \
Applied Reasoning Corp.

J1 795.00

PC-Elevator is an MS-DOS accel-
erator card that is compatible
with the A2000 Bridgeboard. It
turns your 4.77 MHz 8088-based
Bridgeboard into a 16 MHz
80386-based power house.

GOMF Button

HyperteltfSilicon Springs
S69.95

GOMF Button is an extension of
the very popular GOMF ("Get
Outta My Face") program. GOMF
can help you catch GURUs and re-
cover rather than crash. With the
addition of the GOMF Button
you can now save your data after
a crash.

Perfect Ws/on
SunRize Industries
1249.95

Perfect Vision is a real-time video

the Amiga. It can capture black
and white or color and supports
320x200and 320x400 modes.
Black and white images can be
captured in '/« of a second.

,ri'i'TA-i;*»e«

Bus Expander

Bill's Boards
S495.00

The Bus Expander lets you ex-
pand the Amiga 500 or 1000 to
use most of the 2000's expansion
cards. Hard disk controllers, RAM
expansion and even the A2028
Bridgeboard can be used.

Impact ASOO-HDIRAM

Great Valley Products

J99S(0KMM)

^Impact A500-HD/RAM is a one-
: piece unit that connects to the
'500. It adds a 20MB hard drive,

2MB of auto-configuring expan-

dnn RAM anA a ^r";i rnntrnllor

Processor Accelerator

Creative Microsystems, Inc.
$199.99

Processor Accelerator is a speed-
up board for the Amiga that of-
fers speed above the MC68010. It
also includes a math co-processor
socket that when filled, will offer
even more increased speed.

X'Specs3D

Haitex Resources
$124.95

synchronized to produce a realis-
tic 3D image. With these glasses
you will enter a world of 3D like
you never thought possible. Look
for commercial products that can
use these glasses in '89.

COMMODORE MAGAZINE 73

64/1

^ucation Software

by Howard Millman

C' '^*<ti

IHE coAuvrcR EonKM or

^<-> crossworagame

{Ages 4-1

sss.oo

Using the strategy of directing a
frog to follow a successive liiy
pad path, The Pond subtly
strengthens a child's ability to
recognize elementary patterns.
Offering six levels of difficulty,
The Pond deftly employs above-
average graphics to both inform
and reward students.

Easy as ABC

(Ages J-5) Springboard Software
$39.9S

Built around animals and space
travel, Eaiy as ABCs five games
emphasize alphabet-sequencing
skills and letter recognition.
Pleasantly paced and well imple-
mented, this easy-to-use primer
for non and early-readers re-
quires only minimal adult
supervision.

>istro Graver

(Ages 3-7) Hi Tech Expressions
S9.95

Grover, of Sesame Street fame,
hosts some friendly visitors from
the outer limits. These Zips, it
seems, were born to be counted,
added and subtracted. In all five
games, correct answers are re-
warded by eye-catching graphics
and almost mesmerizing sound
effects.

lilt

Reader Rabbit

(Ages 4-8) The Learning Company
S39.9S

M«]ill»TiKailil«t«]l|l

and diverse games, Reader Rab-
bit stresses primary spelling skills
as well as objed/word recogni-
tion. One of the best in the
genre, Reader /?ai3fa/t treats er-
rors lightly. Rewards, in the form
of playful animated sequences,
are ample.

Teddy Bear-rels of Fun

(Ages4-12] DIM Software
S39.95

By combining teddy bears with
props, backgrounds and user-
written captions, children of all
ages can create oversized posters,
page-sized pictures and labels.
This printer utility's two disks pro-
vide hundreds of bright ready-
drawn graphia to produce per-
sonalized cartoon art.

lOl®

Crypto Cube

(Ages 8-Adult) Britannica Software
S9.9S

The Crypto Cube's Wuzzle em-
cees this crossword-like game.
Players fill in the blank boxes to
uncover the puzzle's twenty hid-
den theme words on the C^pto
Cube's four sides. The answer
words are drawn from one of 9
user-chosen categories. '^■

Scrabble Crossword Game

(Ages S-Adult) Electronic Arts
$32.95

A skillful translation of the classic
word game from board to screen.
Just as challenging as the origi-
nal, it now offers the added at-
.traction of solitary Saabble
(warning: the computer's a re-
sourceful adversary) plus the con-
venience of checking entries with
the built-in 20,000-word
dictionary.

74 DECEMBER 1988

Educaticm Software

by Gary V. Fields

IntelliType

Electronic Arts
$49.95

Using artificial intelligence, this
typing tutorial monitors and
helps you correct typing errors.
Because each typing lesson is the
continuing episode of a cliff-
hanger novel, you'll want to con-
tinue your studies just to see how
the story ends.

V ,^L

^■'''■"■'^:

■■M^^BMHHB>:JIJIh'IIWS.-^l ^H

MLJlk

re Space Math

T«E PMGfliil 'C* TtKHK I-PUTW TME f iCts, d« Uf

J] •'•isJ/i LI :a L/lUU

nust rvtt jindl

IHIilHI

Spellbound

Learners Image
$39.95

Using a delightful mixture of dig-
itized speech, animation and
music, this spelling program
makes learning word lists fun.
Best of all the parent or teacher
can create completely new word
lists for the child to learn.

Galileo 2.0

Infinity Software
$99.95

Version 2.0 includes a database
of 1600 stars and lets you track
the planets and stars from any
point on earth. You can also view
the stars on any day and hour
from 400 years forward or back-
ward in time.

Robot Readers

Hilton Android Corporation
$29.95 (eaefi)

A series of talking, illustrated sto-
ry books for young children. The
mixture of graphics, speech and
the ability to point at words and
have them spoken makes this se-
ries perfect for early readers.

Intracorp Inc.
$14.95

Mixing the graphic and chal-
lenge of an arcade game, this
one will have your children add-
ing, subtracting, dividing and
multiplying at warp speed or
crashing in the attempt. Play re-
quires the child to maneuver a
spaceship by correctly answering
math qiiestions. The game uses
multiple screens which increase
in difficulty, so the child is always
challenged.

Birds 'N Bees

Intracorp Inc.
$14.95

This text-only program deals with

nuiiiaii aesuuiiiy in d siraignnor-
ward, sensible, understandable
and informative manner. What
and how much information it
supplies the child is determined
by his or her age and gender.
The program includes password
protection, so a teacher or parent
can control the level of informa-
tion available to the user.

Discovery Series

MIcrollluslons

$39.95 (main program disk)

$19.95 (each expansion disk)

Child learns about math, geogra-
_ phy, history, language, etc. while
exploring an alien spaceship.
This one mixes learning with

Kinderama

Unicorn Educational Software
$49.95

The program disk contains five
delightful skill games all of which
involve robots for children from
preschool to age six. Children
(and parents) will enjoy the
sound, graphics and animation
that help the child learn to count,
add, subtract and follow direc-
tions. This is just one of a series of
quality educational games by the
same company.

Great States II

Designing Minds, inc.
$39.95 (each)

Learn about America's geogra-
phy, including topography and
information about individual
states like state flower, song,
average rainfall, etc. It includes a
competitive game which lets you
race across the country you are
learning about.

iMw *t*hr «iitMi ri |M'l'i«n nr.

I -

Linkword Language Series

Artworx Software Company
$29.95 (each)

Don't look for great graphic or
sound effects here, but each pro-
gram in this series is a serious for-
eign language tutorial. The series
teaches French, Spanish, Dutch,
Russian, etc. and each comes with
an audio tape to insure you learn
the language's correct pronunci-
ation.

COIVliVlODORE ftflAGAZiNE 75

Productivity Software

by Gary V. Fields
Paperclip III

Batteries Included/Electronic Arts
S49.95

This classic combination word
processor/ terminal program just
keeps getting better. This profes-
sional tool has every feature a se-
rious writer needs including a
fast spel! check, plus it comes
with both the 64 and 128 version
of the program (so if you move
up to a 128 you can take it with
you}. Not copy protected.

[;*&: (^ rKj* *:?,<

._, ^ 1 u I I iT

^d^finin^ a 'nysler page", vhich

™i:s gauleliKs, text, anl grsphia

.apfeir oa esh , .

Sr vbch via

'ler pJgB Yoi I # =
■'romili'.rjr/cf ' 1^

geoPublish

Berkeley Softworia

$69.95

For GEOS users there is no better

desktop publishing program on

the market. It lets you mix and

edit text, fonts, graphics and

boxes and supports laser pri[

POWE

Revolutionary PagA

Paperclip Publisher

Gold Disk/Electronic Arts
M9.9S

This is the 54 version of an award-
winning Amiga desktop publish-
ing program. The program's intu-
itive design includes pull-down
menus, point-and-click com-
mands and built-in text and
graphic editors. It works best
with a mouse.

BetterWorking

I Word Publisher

fletterlVorWng Word Publisher

Spinnaker Software Corp.

S39.95

A fast GEOS-environment word
processor which lets you mix
graphics and text, The print-to-
screen option lets you view your
documents exactly as they will
print, plus it has a 100,000-word
spell checker.

HAPpy BIPTHDAV

OlELSEA

fdeo Producer

«9:95 - —a I

Lets the novice create, animate

and record titles or screen se-
quences on their video recorder.
Perfect for weddings, home vid-
eos or business presentations.

Postcards

Activision
i24.9S

This one lets you create unique
postcards complete with your
own brand of humor. Postcards is
sure to brighten the day of not
only the friends who receive
cards, but also the mail carrier
who delivers them.

iMaker

A.M

by Mark Jordan

C128 Developer's Package

Commodore Business Machines, Inc.
S50.M

This package, produced by Com-
modore, has not only a powerful
macro assembler, but also a nifty
screen editor (better than what
comesinthel28!),andlotsof
programmer's utilities like fast
loaders, mouse drivers and math
routines.

irAward Mal(er

Baudville
S39.9S

' This one makes it easy to whip
out an award or certificate for
those special people in your life,
Comes with hundreds of tem-
plates for business, home and
school use. The program is not
copy protected.

WarpSpeed cartridge

Cinemaware

$49.95

Finally a cartridge that works

equaliywellinboth64andl28

modes with multiple drives. It's

very fast and feature-laden.

geoWrite Worltshop 128

Berkeley Soltworks

S69.95

A much-improved word proces-
sor for the 1 28 mode of G EOS
which will incorporate graphic
from geoPaint and do overlay
files for multiple columns. As
with all GEOS products, fonts are
its glory. It includes a simple
merge program.

76 DECEMBER 1988

oduGtivity Softw;

by Gary V. FieTds"

ttir.i.Ki.l.i.Bi.i.tiHi.l.iifl^iiiiit ^11

TW nt ^ ^Knf opri afe fee ria^iln

jtd utthniFTE if atBa «< ftiE Btr K ^ In

excellence! j-:\

Micro-Systems So
$300.00 :

This one loob like atfoss —
between WordPerfect and
ProWrite. This expanded word
processor comes very close to

[ w «i *iii»iininn«iii»wiiiiavi'i

a thesaurus, spell and grammar

■SLaUaKiUiElciUulJ IT u!U

jivfef^iaMififni

Prof essional Page "^
_eoldl>isk — — ^-
V439S.00 ;

When it comcj lu piuioirunoi

^desktop publishing, this one does
it all— including color separa-
tions. Intuitively designed it is
easy to use, yet has all the power

The Accour)tant

KF5 Software, Inc
$299.50

A business-powered double-en-
try accounting system that in-
cludes payroll, accounts receiv-
able and payable, a general jour-

Dr. Term Professional

Progressive Peripherals & Software
S99.95

A powerful terminal program
which includes a 300-entry phone
book, script language, mini-BBS
and supports most protocols in-
cluding X, Y and WX modem.
Comes with an extensive, infor-
mative manual.

on the market. The program is help screens. The program is not
not copy protected and can be in- copy protected and can be in-
'"'""''"" ^ ^^"'''"ve. stalled on a hard drive.;

Libmr\-

library

WordPerfect Corporation
$129.00

This one disk has nearly every of-
fice productivity program you
should ever need including a
electronic calendar (with ap-
pointment schedule and alarm
dock), financial calculator, note-

irtinaiiincliihlihlildiMI

and program editor. The calen-
dar's clock can be set to alert you
to appointments as far as six
months in advance.

icaciiEiDaEipnrnr^nnnra

Superbase Professional

Pretision Software
S299.99 '

This is a rational, programmable,
intuitively-designed data man-
agement program which is pow-
erful yet relatively easy to use. It
comes with a tutorial-type man-
ual, sample files and a forms edi-
tor for designing invoices, state-
ments, purchase order forms or
any other type of forms to com-

the main program.

PHASAR Home Accour}tir)g

Antic Publishing Inc.
' i89,95 ^ Y '*

i;An excellent home/small busin'
^accounting program which uses a
single-entry accounting system.^
■• The program can split a single m
transaction between different m
categories, making it much easiw
to keep track of income and ex-
penses.

beluxeProductions -

-Associated Computer Servic
Electronic Arts """'"
$199.95 -■

For business or educational video
presentations this one package is
all you need. The program allows
"you to design sophisticated story-
boards and animated scenes
which include stereo sound ef-
fects. Production is mouse con-
trolled; you can include wipes,

i_j_- ii ic__i I

scan displays. The four program
disks are not copy protected and
can be installed on a hard drive.

iRcrs,^

Outlirie! Idea Processor

PAR Software, Inc.
$49.95

This program lets you organize
your thoughts on paper (screen)
using an outline template. Using
many word processing tools (cut,
paste, search) this one is perfect
for collecting, arranging and
editing ideas.; — -— - *^- -

HomeBuilders CAD

EaseWare
SI 99.00

Yes, you can design your house
or office with this one, but be-
yond that, it will estimate how
much material each project will
. require, as well as how much it
will cost. Includes options to print-
out information as weit as de-
signs, -

COMf^ODORE MAGAZINE Z

pphicsProgmn^

- ■ — • ■ ■■ --^i .

tfeSMrr'-! ii'f'

-i Outrageous Pages

I,"' Batteries Included/Electronic Arts

gg S49.95

yi Although dropped by EA soon

" after its release, this powerful

C2 graphics program is still widely

SB avaiiableand worth checking

^i out. Features a wonderful in-

iM)^

■ s i

illlnliiUl^l >I

Paperclip Pu

Gold DiskiElectronic Arts

W.% . -'■-«-

By far the most versatile and
user-friendly desktop publisher
yet available for the 64. Includes
three terrific conversion pro-
grams for translating text, fonts
and clip art from nearly every
source imaginable. A definite
must-have.;, - ■■

art, borders and nine pre-de-
signed page templates.

$29.9S

By far the best painting program
available for the 64. This one
" breezes through high-tech utili-
ties most graphic programs
haven't even dreamt of yet.

Flexidraw 5.5

Inkwell Syste...
i34.95 ':

jt wr-4.. *"i>-" r*%i

gram supports multiple input de-
vices, notably Inkwell's excellent
line of light pens. Functions ga-
lore for both serious program-
mers and casual doodlers. Great

European AdvetilurE

Home Video Producer

Epyx
M9.95

Personalize your home videos
with elaborate title screens, inter-
missions and dosing credits. In-
cludes 75 pre-made graphic, ten
fonts and enough special effects
to make Spielberg jealous. Highly
professional. ; _,,

Becker BASr-^

Abacus Softwat. ^^.^h...lj^ b ^-
$49.95 •t.»^-,=eit-.-

Not strictly a graphics program,
.yet featuring an incredible array
of hi-res drawing commands. ^
Used within the context of GEOS,
its potential is unlimitedaasiiat

**. jifS^y^^-'iysi. -

¥m> SfS" U'.ES !.Vil.. rgllW"

CADpack U8
Abacus Software
J59.95

A real marvel, even if only in 40
columns. Highlights include a
well-written manual, user-friend-
ly command structure, and 1531
mouse input. Highly professional.

I rannr nr inn IE

The Sesame Street Crayon

Polafware/Penguin Software

$14.95 each

Early childhood software at its

very best. A series of three fun

computer coloring books that

teach numbers, the alphabet and

^pictures on each disk with excel-
Hent printer support:

78 DECEMBER 198S

aphicsPrograms&Aids

by Bob Lindstrom

TfiKt-s why our di

■ Th»- t: Jt I iifrafhjr - Cdi

Photon Paint Express Paint V.2.0

Wicrolllusions PAR Software Inc.

S99.95 J99.95

In addition to a -full array of stan- Designer Stepiien Vermeulen

ing tools, Photon Paint provides tures

full Hold and Modify (HAM) sup- Express f^int otters new ways to

port. Its logical mouse/menu in- juggle pixels by combining paint

4096-coior HAM mode can be package. Plus, Express Paint gives
just as useful as 1 6- and 32-co!or access to the Amiga's little-used,
graphics. 64-color half-brite mode.

Elan Design
S129,00

Invision allows you to interact
with video from a VCR or
A-Squared's Live! digitizer, invi-
sion is best described as a real-
time special effects system that
allows you to mix images from
paint programs and add effects
like mosaic, strobe and mirror.

Turbo Silver V 3.0

(fflpulse, Inc
S199.9S

The visually stunning (simulated)
reality of ray-tracing brightened
Amiga screens this year in several
rendering programs. Silver made
its mark in a competitive field by
blending a logical user interface
with animation capabilities.

■ Animation: Apprentice
Hash Enterprises
S299.00

This program is the flagship of
several pace-setting animation
tools from creator Martin Hash.
Animation: Apprentice micro-
computerizes the art of Disney-
style animation and allows you
to ingeniously interchange
characters, body parts and
movement patterns.

iEaMu^ifrMt^liaSBS^SttjiaBml

Calligrapher2.0

InterActive SoHworks
JT29.95

Multi-colored Amiga fonts were
invented by Calligrapher, and
Amy alphabets have never been
the same. The latest version of-
fers more power and flexibility to
create customized alpha-numeric
character sets, complete with col-
or cycling. Calligrapher brings
beauty and imagination to
Amiga text displays. '

^jt-^m

DeluxePhotoLab

Electronic Arts
SI 99.95

The digital photography of the
future is here today. This one-
stop program does it all— draw-
ing (including HAM mode), color
processing and poster printing.
Whether you want to sketch in
low-res, add subtle shades to a
HAM graphic, or print a 10-foot
square poster, DeluxePhotoLab
handles the job.

An/niat/'on; Stand

Hash Enterprises
S49.95

How much movement can you
get out of a static IFF graphic? If
you're using Animation: Stand,
the answer is "lots." This soft-
ware simulation of an Oxberry
Animation Stand permits you to
scan, zoom and pan across the
surface of a still graphic. Then,
the resulting animated sequence
is saved to disk.

fhterChange

Syndesis
i49,9S

From Videoscape 3D to Sculpt 3D,
the varied data standards in
Amiga ray-tracing created a visu-
al Tower of Babel. Amic|^ maven
John Foust brought order to cha-
os with Interchange, an ingen-
ious program that swaps data
between programs. [

CQMMODORt MAGAZINE /9

usic Software

byBobLindstrom

.«sw^

mBHH

nnpH

i)M

, L)j ■

B^Ml^u^

Dr. Ts /(eyboard Controlled

Sequencer (KCS) VI. 6

Dr.rsMuskSoftwaTe

S249.00

With the arrival of Dr. rues,
the Amiga receives an industry
standard in MIDI music making.
This professional-quality se-
quencer establishes the Amiga's
first-rate potential as a MIDI-
controlling computer.

Sound Oasis

New Wave Softvware
S99.9S

An ingenious program, Sound
Oasis places Amiga owners into
the wide world of Ensoniq digital
sampling. Just stick a Mirage disk
into the Amiga, and the program
will convert it to an IFF format in-
strument. It's almost like putting
a S2000 Mirage sampler inside
your Amiga.

5fud/o Magic

SunRize Industries
S99.95

MIDi and sampling at bargain
rates— Sfud/o Magic includes a
basic MIDI recorder and sound
sampling 'editing software. With
the addition of an under-S200
MIDI keyboard and interface, you
have an instant MIDI studio.

Synthia ' .,

The Other Guys :--■;
S99.99 -

Wish you could afford those ex- ^i
pensive synthesizers? Buy
Synthia. This comprehensive soft-
ware tool emulates five different
synthesizers from a percussion
synthesizer to a complex additive
synthesizer. The results are saved
as IFF instruments for use in other
Amiga music programs. Synthia

MIDI Recording Studio
Dt.T's Musk Software
$69.00

to the max.

recorder that brings Dr. T's qual-
ity to beginners who don't need
the muscle or the sometimes
steep learning curve of the full-
fledged KCS, Also supports the
four internal Amina unicoc ;^_

Patch Editorsl Librarians

Sound Quest, Inc
S150.00

The Amiga maestros at Sound
Quest took a relatively generic
application and thoroughly
"Amigatized" it. Their programs
to design synthesizer sounds in-
clude windowing, multitasking
capability and ingenious random
voice generation tools. Sound
Quest Editor-Librarians support
synthesizers from Yamaha,
Roland, Korg and others.

The Quest t; Texture

Sound Quest, Inc.
SI 50.00

High powered but inaccessible
for Amiga musicians unless they
owned the pricey Roland MPU-
40rMIDI interface, Roger
Powell's Tejfture was a great MIDi
sequencer that didn't quite catch
on. The new, revised version,
however, does away with the .i""
Roland interface and supports ^-
standard Amiga MIDI ports.

so DECEMBER i98S

ames

by Russ Ceccola

Rommel: Battles for North

Africa ■

Strategic Studies Group, Inc. (SSG)' '

Electronic Arts

»9.9S

Yet another game from SSG that
uses the excellent Sattlefront
Game System with its easy-to-use
multiple menus. Includes maps,
menu cards and Warplan and
Warpaint game adjustment pro-
grams. Allows you to play inter-
esting scenarios in the role of
Rommel during his famous
battles.

Uri S, itiZ «:» frl

Napoleon in Russia: ;
Borodino W2

Krenlei<Software/DataSoft
«4.9S

Features historically accurate batr
tie map, various skill levels and f
multiple-player option to satisfy '
the Napoleon enthusiast. Offers
possibility to change history in
this important battle of Napo-
leon's military career.

by Steve King

Empire

Interstel
S49.95

An addictive war game Simula-^
tion where strategy and advance
planning control the outcome,
it's a fast-moving game where
speed of play compensates for
lack of detailed battle realism.

The Hunt for Red October

DataSoft
W9.95

Great adaptation of best-selling
book by Tom Clancy with great
graphics and sounds. Uses unique
game system of icons and menus
that makes planning strategy and
playing the ganrie^ much easier
than expected.^

Patton vs. Rommel

Allows choice (iftftWe*leaa^in
simulation of Battle of Normandy
that features detailed graphics
and icon-driven system. Easy to
play, yet tough to fully develop
good strategy; game also fea-
tures a construction.SfiL_^.j. _^^

The Avalon Hill Game Company
i34.95

WWII simulation allows you to T:?
choose side of Russians, Germans
or Americans in various scenarios..
Ease of play made better by at- -
mospheric packaging, easy-to-
understand manual, colorful
maps and construction set to
make your own maps for use
with the game.

Electronic
$49.95

This game was designed and pror
grammed specifically for the
Amiga. Its detailed graphics and_ _
smooth movement, combined -
with simple aircraft operation, -
make it exciting and enjoyable, -'

....ersal Military Simulator
Rainbird
S49.9S

UMS, has a 3D mapboard that is
contoured and can be viewed
from multiple angles and dis-
tances. Comes with several his-
torical battles, but players can
create their own scenarios.

■

■ xwrdss

COMMODORE MAGAZINE 81

yt-ftsv^stmi^'-iiSfSiasssfsis

ead-to-H^ Gamesi

by Gary y. Fields

Street Sports BasketbaH

$39.95

Each player recruits his or her
basketball team from neighbor-
hood icids and then competes on
four different outdoor courts.
This game lets you make all the
moves a real basketball player
could. Best of all, you are always
the player with the ball.

Roadwars

Arcadia/ElectrBnlf:
S29.95

This arcade/combat challenge lets.
you play with or against another "
player (human or computer). You
command a rolling war sphere
down a dangerous strip of space.
The dilemma: to win you must
knock off your opponent— but to
sun/ive you need his/her help. .

[Patton vs. Rommel

Electronic Arts
$39.95

Assume the role of either George
Patton or Marshal Rommel in this
WWII war game. The game
board is well designed, issuing
commands is simple, and the
competition is exciting. If you get
caught in a tight spot, you can
even request advice from either
of the generals, -^mm^:

Ace 2

Spinnaker Software Corp.

$29.9S

You can either dogfight with an-
other human or the computer.
The action is realistic and fast,
and you must cope with not only
the other pilot but land and sea
forces as well.

^ , m:-^

i.'i'^.^^,

Star Rank Boxing II

eamestar/Activlsion
S29.9S

An improved version of the origi-
nal game, this one lets you build,
trade and manage up to five box-
ers as they battle for the world ti-
tle. Best of all, the game (which
includes welter, middle and
heavy weight divisions), is
smooth and fast.

Napoleon in Russia'^
Borod/no 1812

Krenlek Software/DatsSoft
$59,95

This simulation of the battle of
Borodino during Napoleon's in-
vasion of Russia lets you compete
against the computer or another '
human. The game includes eight
historical and "what if" scenarios
and complexity levels, so you
shouldn't get bored with this one
too quickly. You can save games
in process,

Earth Orbit Stations ff OS)

Electronic Arts

$34,95

This combination skill and strate-
gy game lets up to four people
compete for the conquest of
space. You must raise money,
construct space stations and ex-
plore planets. The game contains
seven different scenarios which ■
can take from two to 40 hours to
complete.

Sporting News Baseball

$39,95 -..^z ._,..^;-

The computer versions of
"America's Game' ' keep getting
better. This one combines realis-
ticarcade action with a four- win-
dow playing view and the ability
to keep stats on individual play-
ers. Plus you can bunt and steal.

LljEEiilsLEG

Blackjack Academy

Microlliusions
$39,95

Up to five players can play Black-
jack, lose up to S9999 electronic
dollars and still go home with the
grocery money. The game in-
cludes multiple table rules like
Las Vegas and Atlantic City as
well as ah optipnjo save a game
in progress. -

Epyx
$24.95

Straight from the pages of MAD
: magazine, the two characters
-from Spy vs. Spy bring a chal-
lenge and a lot of laughs to the
64. Don't pass this one by just be-
cause it may appear childish— it's
a great game.

82 DECEMBER 1988

Head-to-Head Games

byGaryV. ReM

1. 71 15 nSS

c30nSLA={

f rVe Power

Microtllusions
S24,95 .

This explosivejank game lets you
battle the computer, another hu-
man or across telephone wire via
modem. The action is fast, the
graphics beautiful, and the size
and complexity of the battlefield
wonderful. If you enjoy good ar-
cade or war games, this is a -
must have ganite

Electronic Arts
S49.95

If you can't afford your own
baseball team and ball park, this
is the next best thing. It combines
realistic baseball action and strat-
egy, instant replay, digitized
sounds and great graphics. Plus
you can not only draft your own
dream team, you can even design
your ball park using the construc-
tion set included.

Btbh AttoviiT

^/i»^9

flbonsti ^

MkiDlllusfom '
$39.95 "=

This space/arcade challenge hss'"
you battling not only your hu-
man opponent and mechanical
(computer-controlled) adversar-
ies, but also a bottomless "black-
hole." If you're looking for a real
challenge, this one has it— it is
tough.

ffoadwars

ArcadiaiElKtrontji
S34.99 - ^

This arcade.'coifi„„. ., .^..^..^.^ ..^
you play with or against another
player (human or computer). You
command a rolling war sphere
down a dangerous strip of space.
The dilemma: do you cooperate
with the other player in order to
survive or do you attack them to
win, and when do you change
alliances?

Ports Of Call

Aegis Development
S49.95

You either make a fortune or go
down with your ship in this com-
bination finance and strategy
game where you play the part of
the owner/captain of a fleet of
tramp steamers. The mixture of
beautiful screens, digitized
sounds and reai-time challenge
makes this one addictive,

Stellar Conflict
PAR Software, Inc.
S39.95

This conquer-the-heavens strate-
gy game lets one to four humans
{and/or the computer) compete
with each other as they explore,
capture and control planets. To
vyin you must manage your re-
sources and know when and
where to do battle.

ift'^-m. LiiS ^'TT

TeleWar

Software Terminal
S39.9S

This one lets you go to war over

telephone wires via a modem.
Actually you can do battle with a
friend on the same computer,
but the real fun is with the
game's telecommunication soft-
ware. The game pieces include
artillery, tanks, trucks, planes,
etc., and it comes with a selertion
of different battlefields.

M9.95 ~

What gives this tried and true
flight simulator such appeal is
that you can fly wing to wing
with another player via modem.
Everyone knows how good Sub-

with this one you can show an-
other player your stunts while he
witnesses yours. This is about as
close to team flying as you'll get
without doing something very
dangerous.

COMMODORE MAGAZlNt 83

d^enhj^re/Bdjyiam

by Shay Addams

:g ^ S? 16?

^ 1^
S? 16?:

Advanced Dungeons and
Dragons: Pool of Radiance

strategic Simulations, Inc.
J39.95

Pool of Radiance features the
best animation I've seen in an SSI
game, it looks sharp, plays
smoothly and has an adventurer-
friendly interface. First-person
graphic, the kind seen in Bard's
Tale, are employed in town and
dungeon scenes. Spot animation
brings characters and monsters to
life.

Wasteland

Interplay/Electronic Arts
$39.95

IVaste/ancf puts you in charge of -;
seven Desert Rangers out to solves
the Servants of the Mushroom
Cloud, a "gSow in the dark" cult
whose temple is a former nuclear
reactor in Las Vegas. I Jike the
way the skills and character de-
velopment are handled, and the
story is original— more than just
another "after the bomb"

Bard's Tale III

Interplay/Elertfonlc Arts
S39.95

-Seems the Mad God, Tarjan, has-
• leveled the town of Skara Brae,
so you'll travel through nine di-
mensions in time and space to
seek him out. For the first time
you can "use" objects; this leads
to rtiore emphasis on the puzzles
than in previous releases in the
series.

Beyond Zork (128 only)

Infocom
S44.95 :

the first official sequel to the
ZorJt trilogy. In addition to Brian
Moriarty's fine prose and subtle
puzzles. Beyond Zork contains
many role-playing elements. A
plethora of time-saving features
havealso been added.

'^m-

15 CRflC THE HflCK

m SHIFIV SfiRG

Might and f/fagk

New World Computing/Mediagenk
$39.95

In his "fantasy role-playing simu-
lation' ' your party of six utilizes ;
combat and spell-casting capa-
bilities to move through M&M's
extensive geography. Mapping
sheets are included to make ex-
ploring easier.

Alternate Reality: The City

DataSoft/ElectronlcArts
$39,95

In this fantasy role-playing game
you are abducted by an alien
spaceship sometime in the future
. and left in a room with a single
exit. You pass through the exit to
the City of Xebec's Demise and,
making the mtat of your stam-
ina, charm, strength and wisdom,
surreptitiously begin to explore
The City.

Jinxter

Magnetic Scroils/Rainbird
$34,95

In Jinxter you are seeking a set of
charms once attached to the
magical Bracelet of Turani.so you
can put it back together. You'll
find plenty of laughs while seek-
ing the charms, for the droll Brit-
ish sense of humor crops up in
the most unexpected places.

Plundered Hearts '^_
Infocom ~

$34.95

The first Infocom game in which
you must play the role of a wom-
an. Hearts is patterned in the
style of a romantic novel, but is
packed with the kind of logic
puzzlers that havekept; Infocom
gamers racking their brains.

nowMccaouDior TM MAO oniuais

Sir-TedF

$39.95 --^— n:;--,.:;:.: ---

It's a ten-level maze in which you
strive to stay the evil wizard
Werdna and recover an amulet
stolen from Trebnor, the Mad
Overlord. Character development
is an important and well-de-
signed part of the game.

84' DECEMBER 1988

venture/Fantasy Games

Paladin

Omnrtrend
$39.95

A fantasy game that uses the
Breach system of tile graphics,
but adds teieports, magic and a
wide assortment of weapons and
artifacts. Up to ten party menfi-
bers accompany you on the var-
ious quests. The long-range goal
is to achieve knighthood for your
main character.

$49.95

The first Infocom game that will
actually let you fight grues! Not
only that but you have role-play-
ing attributes like armor class and
dexterity instead of just a score.
There are countless monsters to
fight, spells to cast, stores to shop
in, plus color, auto-mapping and
an Undo feature.

|f;tJ/* t.^;2^54JKa. •

r^Ml'MJ MMJSiukrfwrimr

rfctfTfllgffi^S^i^wlfKi

.jiems/Sroderbund
$59.95

Moebius takes place in an Orien-
tal fantasy world and combines a
highly original magic system with
action-packed kung fu and
sword-fighting sequences. The
mouse and icon interface is out-
standing.

it tarry

.'Electronic Afts

Leisure Suit Larry puts you in the
role of Larry Laffer, a loser of a
guy with a very important goal.
Larry is 40 years old and single
and is desperately searching for
beautiful girls in the mythical
gambling mecca of Lost Wages.
Adult subject matter.

Faery Tale Adventure

Miaolllusions s

S49.9S ■'r_.

Faery Tale is a one-character role-
-playing game with a twist. You
begin as one of three brothers
who must defeat an evil necro-
mancer and recover a magic talis-

eval land of Holm. After being
killed four times, you begin anew
>s another brother. It's not just
L another play-alike whose author
was content to emulate the style
of Ultima or Wizardry.

Jinxter

Magnetic Scrols/Rainbird
539.95

The Amiga version lets you make
many common decisions with the
mouse and pull-down menus.
The parser is top-notch, accept-
ing full and complex sentences.

Questran 11

strategic Simulalionsttectronit Arts
549.95

Questran H sends you back
iroysfi <'"^e to prevent the Evil
f Magic (from the first
-gam^from being created. Auto-
ma ppi rig complements Ques-
(ran's familiar and convenient in-
terface.

,CfdlkCin

Uninvited

Icon Simufations/Mlndscape

549.95

Graphic icon-driven adventure

using the same user interface as

Deja Vu. An old, spooky house is

your only place of refuge after

you are involved in a car crash.

COMMODORE My^AZINE 85

cade Games

by Mark Cotone

oTuu WIWIA ;

The Last Ninja

Activision
$24.99

A beautiful martial arts contest
that adds a high level of strategic
depth by incorporating puzzles,
magic and weapons. The graph-
ic here are so stunning that if we
were handing out awards for
Best Set Design, this game could
claim those honors as well. Great
arcade kicks.

Mini Golf
Cap com
$24.99

All the thrills of the carpet-put-
ting classic are here, including
multi-tiered greens, metallic
loops, unpredictable bumper
boards and moving obstacles.
Precise dub control makes this a
game of patience, timing and
skill. But a little luck wouldn't
hurt either. Join the club.

Skate or Die

Elertronit Arts
$29.95

A sometimes violent, often hilar-
ious tour through five different
events in the world of sidewalk
surfing. Dazzling graphics,
smooth animation and exacting
joystick control make this a most
thrilling ride.

-a ^ ^^K

force 7

DataSoft
$19.95

it's you and your special crack
combat unit against a mob of
aliens in a distant space factory.
You have seven soldiers, they
have several hundred. Good luck!
Fast-paced shootout with plenty
of strategic possibilities.

Road Runner

Mindscape
$39.95

Beep! Beep! Look out, the classic
Road Runner/Coyote chase
moves out of the cartoons and
onto your monitor. A variety of
screens present a host of chal-
lenges laced with all of those hu-
morous animal antia we know so
well. Tough, but welt worth the
fight

Demon Stalkers

Micro Forte/Eledronk Arts
$29.99

Battle evil-doers and demonic
creatures as you plunge through
level after level of infested maze-
like dungeons. A touch better
than Gauntlet (its obvious inspi-
ration), because this package also
includes an easy-to-use dungeon
construction option.

Impossible Mission 2

Epyx
$29.95

Here's a rarity: a sequel as good
as its highly successful original.
Once again you're out to thwart
the evil doings of the mad scien-
tist, Elvin. The search will take
you through 50 rooms swarming
with suicidal robots and dastardly
traps. Impossible? Maybe. Irresis-
tible? Definitely!

Rockford—The Arcade Game

Arcadia/Electronic Arts
SI 9.99

The world-famous Boulder Dash-
er is back (again!?), this time of-
fering quite a bit more than in
any of fiis earlier visits. You now
must explore and mine five new.„
worlds comprised of 80 diffei^^
play fields. Wow! New puzzl^,""
humorous intermissions and
catchy music make this an ar-
cader's tunnel of love.

Battle Droidz

DataSoft
519.99

A Marble Madness variant that

ver through multi-level play fields
while avoiding the computer-
controlled nasties, but now you
are equipped with your own of-
fensive weapons, like Immobiliz-
ers, Bombs and Guns, Attractive
and addictive.

IIHB

i^»nn

S •""•

GeeBee Air Rally

Activision
$19.99

Take to the skies as you race
against the clock and other pilots
in a wild 3D flight complete with
stomach-churning turns, open
throttle maneuvers and hard-
edged competition. Pass the
Dramamine, please, j

Cauldron

Broderbund
$29.99

A pair of offbeat contests that
will have you glued to your Com-
modore. Set in a mystical land of
witches and sorcerers, these chal-
lenges draw attention due to
their unique styles of surrogate
movement: broomstick flying
and bouncing. One of this year's
toughest, yet more rewarding ar-
cade matches.

86 DECEMBER 1988

cade Games

by Russ Ceccola

Zoom!

Discoveiy Software International
129.95

Most original game to come out
for a long time that features
colorful characters, great anima-
tion and strategy. Addictive
game that should earn a pl ace in
an arcade game Hall of "

".-^i f

Incredible graphics highlight this
quest to find and kill Count Drac-
ula by using all sorts of objects
you find along the way. Neat at-
mosphere sets you up for a lot of
action, thrills and chills in this
horror spoof game.

Aaargh!

Arcadia/Electronic Arts
S34.95

Amazing graphics and sounds
make for a great atmosphere to
take on the role of one of two
legendary Hollywood movie J
monsters. Trample one of 12
cities as you. search for the
Golden Dragon's Egg.

!-5'^:!'":« M en

Psygnosis I

$39.95

Action-packed imported game
puts you in role of a defender
against creatures and robots of ™
all types. Fast-paced game has 1^
unique graphical representation ''
and digitized sounds as you blow
•the enemy away.

Fire & Forget

Titus Software
S39.95

Operate a destruction vehicle in a
world on the brink of disaster in
the nuclear age. See your en-
emies from a first-person per-
spective, as the great graphics
and sound surround you in this
game.

f vefy year we ask our re-
viewers to pick the beit
products released during the
current year. Since we start this pro-
cess in August, our reviewers some-
times choose titles that they
anticipate will be the best (if they
ever come out). So every year one
or two nominees slip by that
have not yet been released by our
publication date.

To give our judges an outlet for
this eager anticipation of titles to
come, this year we've also asked
them to pick the title(s) they think
most likely to make next year's list
So without further ado. here's
the ...

Best of 1989?

64/128 Hardware

X-SPECS3D

Haitex Resources, Inc.
Computing Experimental

Fischer America Inc.

Amiga Education Software
The Planetarium

Microlllusions

128 Productivity Software
Page IllustratorlPage Builder 128

Patech Software

64/128 Graphics Programs
Page IllustratorlPage Builder 128

Patecti Software

Amiga War Games

Heavy Metal Modern Land Combat

Access Software
F-19 Stealth Fighter

Micro Prose

Amiga Head-to-Head Games
The Universal Military Simulator

Rainbird

64/128 Adventure Games
Ultima V

Origin Systems

Amiga Adventure Games

Space Quest 11
Sierra On-Line
King's Quest IV
Sierra On-Lirie
Land of Legends
Microlllusions
Dungeon Master
FTL Games

64/128 Arcade Games

Arkanoids

Taito Software

Amiga Arcade Games
ffoad Runner
Mindscape, Inc.

Amiga Sports Games

street Sports Basketball

Epyx

COMMODORE MAGAZINE 87

ports Games

by Scott A. May

a orfEKst: sKoor . .-offcdt:

I ptrtPtSE: OtFBOl i.. :OErC«S,

Clubhouse Sports

Mindsope

$29.95

Ed Ringler's follow-up to last
year's Indoor Sports proves why
he's one of the best game design-
ers in the business. Choose from
six outstanding diversions;
3D Pinball, Billiards, Skeeball, .
Shooting Gallery, Crazy Pool and
Foosball. Highly addicting.

Spor^r\g News Baseball

Epyx
»9.9S

The first action-oriented baseball
game to successfully incorporate
detailed statistical play. Hand
pick your starting lineup from
over 1 50 baseball legends and 26
real-life teams. Realistic action
and dazzling graphia make this
one a winner.

MISL Soccer

Mindscape

$34.95 T

Indoor version of the fabulous
Superstar Soccer, this Ed Ringler
powerhouse delivers lightning-
fast gameplay and a challenge
that never ends. Become coach,
general manager and team cap-
tain in this complex one- or two-
player extravaganza.

Star Rank Boxing 11

Gamestar
S29.95

This sequel to 198S'ssmash hit of-
fers more hard-hitting action
with better graphics and smooth-
er animation.

Sfrate or Die

Eledtonic Arts
-$Z9.95

One of the cruelest sports games
around, and you'll love every
minute of it. Compete in five
bone-jarring events, each pre-
sented with graphia and anima-
tion you must see to believe.

Street Sports Basketball

Epyx
$39.95

Free-form neighborhood hoops
for the sheer fun of it. This chal-
lenging one- or two-player con-
test guarantees good times for all
ages.

4th & Inchest

Accolade -

$Z9.95 ;,

By far the best actiorilbotball
game yet for eight-bit comput-
ers. Bob Whitehead's design is
flawless. Although the computer
makes for a tough opponent, this
is one of the best two-piayer
sports games you can find.

The Games: Summer Edition

Epyx
$39.95

The graphics just keep getting

hpttpr AnH tho euontc mnro rhat.

lenging. Multiple players can
'compete in Sprint Cycling, Hur-
dles, Pole Vault, Hammer Throw,
Uneven Parallel Bars, Rings, Arch-
ery and Springboard Diving. Out-
standing simulations.

Mmi-Putt
Accolade =

$29,95

At last, a true miniature golf sim-
ulation. This one has it all— reaiis-
tic play action, detailed graphics
and a wonderful sense of humor

struction option. Maybe next
time.

TakeDowi

Gamestar/Activision
$29,95

:;Pefinitely not just another wres-
iJ:3t!ihg game. This superb one- or
■ft^wo-player contest features
bone-crushing tag team action,
arcade graphics and some of
most amazing digitized sound ef-
fects you' II ever hear.

88 DECEMBER 1988

by Gary V. Fields

Ead Weaver Baseball

Electronic Arts
S49.9S

This game has all the important
elements of baseball including
excitement. It comes complete
with 25 different ball parks, digi-
tized sounds, instant replays and
real-time action. You can draft
(or trade) for your own team,
and the program will keep the
important statistics on both your
team and individual players. This
one is a must for baseball fans.

—as

'I
f

GeeBee Air Rally ^

Actlvision - "

S39.95

A pleasant mixture of both flight/
arcade games, this one lets you
race a legendary GeeBee airplane
over a season, as you try to w/in a
championship (and a good-look-
ing lady's hand). Lots of surprise
screens pop up to add both hu-
mor and spice as each race in the
season gets tougher. This one
makes you feel like you are
flying^it's just plain fun.

Head Coach J

MicroSearch Int.
S59.95

This pro football simulation puts
you in the shoes of a coach as you
design and send in the plays from
the sidelines. This is a strategy
game rather than arcade, where
the outcome of each call is deter-
mined by the success probability
the play had against the defen-
sive formation. This one is for se-
rious football fans.

Hardball!

Accolade
$44.95

witn tnis Daseoaif game you
manage a team as you pitch, bat,
steal, substitute, field and every-
thing else required to win a
game. A bad call from the bench
can send you to the showers or
into extra innings. The animation
is in real time here, plus the game
uses an unusual behind-the-
pitcher perspective.

When we asked colum-
nist Mark Jordan to come up
with his picks for our "Best of
1989?" feature, the letter must
have had a typo. Here's Mark's
choice for the ...

Best of 1999?

Macbeth/Goliath vs.
Gulliver/Gilligan
(Publisher TBA)
This arcade/text game/
educational/productivity
program is the be-ali, end-all of
Commodore software. The
premise is a tag-team wrestling
match. Not only will the user
have a great time manipulating
Macbeth and Goliath (they fight
dirty), but he will learn all of
Shakespeare's plays (by heart) in
the process, as well as the entire
Old Testament (King James
version). And he will learn to map
the entire universe. (A bonus: .
Gilligan's Isle is on it.)

There's more. The user will set
up a spreadsheet in the process
with which he will be able to
calculate future events (to the
year 2041) as well as explain alt
past events (it's about time) with
unbiased veracity. Finally, we'll
know the true reason Attlla the
Hun had such a bad attitude. It "
comes with a 5000-page, witty
manual, though a handy quick
reference guide is all you really
need. Mouse, joystick or thought
driven. In versions for the
Commodore 64, 128 and Amiga.
The best news is the price: S7.95,
shrink-wrapped at a K-Mart near
you, (Not protected.)

COMMODORE MAGAZINE '89

Buyer's Guide to Companies

Abacus Software

QnemawareCoipoiatnn

HashEnterpnses

B7052ndStr«tNE

4165 Thousand O^sElvd .

2800 E. Evergreen 6W.

Grarel Rapids. Ml 19506

WestUte Village, CA 91362

Vanaxive(,WA986&t

(616I69M330

(805)495*515

(206)25&«567

Access Software

Connwdore Busmess Madines, Inc

HiTedlExpfessiors,ln{.

545W. 550 South

1200 Wilson Diive .

5S4 Broadway

Suite 130

West Owler. PA 19380

New Yort, NY 10021

Bountifu), Ur 8401D

(2151431-9100

{212)941-1224

(BOl) 298-9077

Ciea^ Mkrosystenns

Hiton Android Coip.

Aaolade.Inc

101IOSWNinilxB,8-1

P.Ota7437

550S.WincheSte(BW

Tigard, Oft 97223

Huntington Beach, CA 92615-7437

Suite 200

(503)684-9300 :

(71419634584

Sai.J«e,« 95128

DataSoft

HypeitelirSaicon Springs

(M8)9S5-1700 .

19308 ItodhoftPlai^

20H571 Shaugnas|i 5treet

Mnision

Oi3tsttorth,CA 91311

PortCoquitlani,B-CV3C3G3

3SS5 Bohannon Drive

(818)886-5922

Canada

Medio Park, CAMUS

Designing Mmds. Inc

(604)922-9262

(415)329-0500

3006 N. Mam

lni|iube,lnt

Aegis Devdopnffltl^^^^^

Logan, UT 84321

6870 Shingle OeekPhvy.

2210 Wilshire #277 '^^H^

(801)752-2501

Suite 112

Santa Monio,.CA90«} - -

DigiT*
™ W.Seneca

Minneapolis, MN5S4a

(213(392-9972

|612)5»fl221

AtitkPuMshing ^Sffi^''

Su(te4

kifinitySottmaie .

5« Second Street ^'l^^Hr

Tampa, H. 3361 2

1144 65th Street

SanFrandsto,CA 94107

(8!3)93}«23

Suite C

(415)957«86

Disaweiy Software

EmeiyMlte,CA<14flKl
.^15)420-1551

163 Corxluit Street

86A Sherman Street

Annapolis, MD 21401

Moconi

Cambtidge, MA 02140

(301)268-9877

125 Cambridgrfait Drive

(617(492-0700

DlMSoftware -

Camtxidge, MA 02140
(617)492-6000

ArtvwtK Software

IDLMPait

ISMFimfMtdSoad

P.O.BonS0C0

WwelSplaiis

Penfidd,NYMS26

Allen. 7X75002

5710 Ruffm Road

(716)385^120.

1800)5274747

San Dego,CA 92123

Avaloii Hill Miaoayniitner Games

Dr.TsMuskSoftMR

(619)268^792

4517 Harford Road

220floyt!tonSlier.

hterActiveSoftwoita

B*iwe,MD 21214

Suite 206

2521 S.Vtsta Way

(3011254-5300

Chesnut Hilt, MA 02167

Suite 254

(617)24«9S4

Carisbad,CA 97008

BautMIe

(619)434-5327

S380 52nd Street 5E

EaseWaiie

Grand Rapids. Ml ^9508

2SBe*airRoai

hter^.

(616)e9&(^

WeUey, MA 02181

P.a Bo« 57825

{617)237-2148

Webstef,TX 77958

SeikeleySoftwiria

(71314864163

21 50 Shattud Avenue

BanDesign-

Batetey.CA 94704

P.0. 80x31725

lntraairp,lnc

(41S)M08S3

San Frandso3,CA 94131

14160 5W 139th Coon

H'sBoards -

(ill5)St«73

)^iami,FL3318S
{800)468-7226

9528 Miramar Road

BertJonicAfls

Suite 181

1820 (Gateway Drive

KFS Software

San Diego, CA 921 26

San Mateo, CA 94404

P.O. Box 107

(619)48M908

(415)571-7171

|jrgo,FL 34649-0107
(813)584-2355

EW«.lnc

345 Fourth StiES

600G*eslonDnve

Leamen Image

San Frandsco.CA 94107

Redwood City, CA 94063

P.O. Box 3669

(fiOO) 572-2272

(415)3660606

iDgan,UT 84321

BnderiHind Software

OoUDisk

(801)752-5608

17 Paul Drive

2171 Dunwin Drive, #13

The Learning Company

San Rafael, CA 94903

Mississauga, Ontario,

6493 Kaiser Drive

(415)492-3200

Canada L5L 1X2

Fremont, CA 94555

Brtmn Boxes, bK.

(416)8»0913 ,

(800)852-2255

26.CQfio3rdRoad

Great VallerPraducb

Mediag«nic

Bedford, MA 0173O

P.O.Bo)(391

SeeActivision

(617)27H»90
afXim\l.iA,\tK.

Ma1v«m, PA 19355
(800)426^57

17408 Chatsvrarth Street

12a3-C Mountain Vew^AJmo Road

Hat» Resources, tx

P.0, Box 3175

Sunny<ale,CA 54089

208 CsiTollton Pari

Giaruda Hills, CA9I344

(408)745-7081

Suite 1207

QiTOllton,TX 75006
(214)241-8030

(800)522-2041

ktooProse
TOLakefrontDrw
Hunt Valley, MD 21030
(301)771-1151

MkioSemii

9896 _Soutiivwst Freeway !^
Houston, T)l 77074
(713)338-2818

Mkre-Systeim Software, Inc

V2398W.fofestHinBW.

Suite 202

W.Paim Beach, Ft. 33414

{40^79Ofl770

hfooWay

Cordage Park, BIdg, 20
Pfyinouth, MA 02360
(617)746-7341

MndHa(ie,lnc
3444 Dundee Road
Northbrook,lL 60062
(312)4807667

New Wave Software

P.O. Box 438

St dair Shores, Ml 48080

(313)7714465

Omnitiend Software, hit

P.O. Box 733

W.5im!bury,a06092

(203)658«17

Origin Systems
136 Hansy Road
Buildings

londondenv,fJHQ3053
{603)644-3360

The Other Guys
55 H Main Street
Suite 301
Logan, UT 84321
(801)753-7620

PAR Software
P.O. Box 1309
VaiMKWf.WA 98666
(206)694-1539

patech Software

133 Walnut Avenue
Somerset NJ 06873
(201)545-1571

Pioneer Compiling

2469 £.7000 South

Suite 200

Salt L^e City, 11784121

(801)942-1174

PttenwjrePengur Software
P.O. Box 311 ,
Geneva, 160134
(312)232-1984

Precision Software. Inc.
'8404 Sterling Street
SuiteA

lnnng,TX7S063
1214)9294838

ftogessive PeriptHab & Softwat*
464 Kalamath Street
Denver, CO 80204
(303)8254144

PsygnosisLtd.

tfp Computer Softare Services -:

2150 Bieoutive Drive

Addison, IL 60101

(312)6204444

RacnMate

3016tJEBlakelyStreet
Seattle, WA 98105
(206) 524-7392

Raoihfd Software
PO- Box 222}
Me!iloParic,CA94(126
(415)3220412

SrinortMoo
P.O. Box 17546
Austin, TX 78760
1552)440-1022

Sff-Tedi
P.a 80x245
OgdefBburg, NY 13669
(315(393-6633

Software Terminal
3014 Alta Mere
fLWorth. 1X761 16
(817)2444150

Sound quest

5 Glenaden Avenue East

Toronto, Ontario M8Y2U

Canada

(416)2340347

Spimaka

One Kendal Scjuare

Cambridge, MA 02139

(617(494-1200

Spritgboard Software
7808 CiMk Ridge Orde
Suite no

Minneapolis, MN 55435
(612)944-3915

Strategic Simulations, Inc
1046 N Rengstorff Avenue
Mountain View, CA 94043
{415)964-1353

SiAlogic

:_ SOlKenyooDiiW
■ Champaign, IL 61820 ,
fil7) 3590482

Sunburst Communlcatrans
39 Washington Avenue
Pleasantville, NY 10570
(914)7»5030

Sunoom

290 Palatine Road

Wheeling, I160C9O

(312)4i9aW)

SunRize Industries
3801 Qtdalege Road
B<y»i,TX 77801
" {409)846-1311

Syndesis

20 West Street
Wilmington, MA 01887
1508)657-5585

TftiESoftware

20432 Corko Street

Chalswor1h,CA913ll

{818)708-3692

Unkom EdixBtional Software
2950 E- Flamingo Road
bs Vegas, NV 69121
(702)737-«S62

WMtlPerfetOixp, "
288 W Center Street
Orem,lJT 84057
(801)225-5000

90 DECEMBE

(}■■

Dear Commodore Magazine:

I am -wTitUag to tell you tHat I really enjoyed the graphics
contest m your magazine. AH the entrants that appeared were
highly worthy of praise, I have just one question. Have you
considered reproducing poster-size prints and making them
availahle to the public? If not, you should do so. The graphics
were outstanding.

SinoereSy,

Brad Fowler
Winston, OR

«»V

We're pretty proud of our 1988
Commodore 64 and Amiga Graphics
Contest Winners, and we want to siiow
them off through 1 989. That's why we've
picked out twelve winners to feature on the
NEW 1989 Commodore Magazine
Calendar. The calendar is a giant-sized
poster C20.5" x 32.5"] featuring some of
the best amateur Commodore and Amiga
artists around.

Now you can get your own 1989
Commodore Magazine Calendar for just
S4.95 Cplus S1 postage and handling),
Don't forget — they make great gifts for
the Commodore users on your holiday list,

iSBepage 7QfDrdetails onCommodare Magazine's ^9B9 GrsphicB Contest )

▼

[Please Print!

■ Det.3cti mtd Mini Totigy '

Please send me 1989 Commodore Magazine Calendar(s> at a cost

of E4,95 for each calendar ordered plus S1 (per address! postage/
handling. CPA residents please add 6% sales tax.)

Total Amount of Order: S

Q I have enclosed a check or money order payable to Commodore Magazine.
n Please charge my D VISA D MasterCard

Exp. Date: .

Signature:

I »^ •••,

NBme:.

Address:.

City:.

, State:.

.Zip:.

Mail To- 19B9 Calendar, Commodore Magazine, 1200 Wilson Drive,

West Chester, PA 19380-4231
PloaM allow 4-6 weoks deivt—; ma, cat.! a<l.n.:nj' iU.oo "9 addresoub rwith uuanc uob) on separmc shorn
An orders m U. S. furvis

'•-: .--

s.-.

COMING ATTRACTIONS

PART II

byJohnJeimaine

Last month's crystal ball revealed upcoming releases from companies like Electronic Arts, Accolade, Access and Taito.
This month we'll take up where we left off with the latest and soon-to-be-greatest from Capcom , Data East, Konami ,
Activision, SubLogic and others. We are particularly pleased to see the number of titles being released for both the
Commodore 64 and Amiga.

Activision

64/128: Ocean Ranger, a realistic missile
ship simulation, is the latest thing on the
software sea. The program takes the user
to four of the world's "hot spots": the Be-
ring Sea, Central America, Southeast
Asia and finally the Persian Gulf. Once
you have an assignment, be prepared to
encounter enemy destroyers, aircraft, sub-
marines and mines. Your vessel is fast on
the water, but it's also well-anned for a
fight. The ship carries 76mm cannons,
Sea Sparrow and Harpoon missiles, chaf!',
depth charges, and an ECM Radar Jam-
mer, There stq 16 levels of difficulty in the
program. Other features include: 360-de-
gree point of view, damiige repoits, de-
tailed maps and briefings. Ocean Ranger
missions are challenging and exciting,
while the vessel appears to be an authen-
tic reproduction of a typical Navy missile

Pete Rose Pennant Fe\/er

Next year Pete Rose Pennant Fever
from Gamestai' invites you to play the
real game of baseball on your 64, Yes,
Pete "Charlie Hustle" Rose challenges
you to manage his own expansion team,
through ten seasons of play, as 24 league
teams battle it out for the pennant. But
this isn't just a game of management and
statistics. Players can pitch, hit, run, field,
throw and steal bases in the program (just
hke they do on a real baseball diamond).
Other features include: fabulous TV-style
graphics, digitized sounds and eight dif-
ferent points of TOW (from behind the
plate, at every base and from four outfield
positions). Pete Rose trivia questions ap-
pear on screen between innings. In the
cfld, Pete Rose Pennant Fever is one of the
Jy^arpest home computer ba.seball games
*ve seen to date. Like Pete Rose, it be-
long.s in a hall of fame. Now that you've
heard my comments on tlio subject, iefs
find out seme behind-the-scenes deUiils
from Scott On- (president of G;unestar
when the game was developed) and Pete
Kaeehinlself.

Ocean Ranger missions are
challenging and exciting,
while the vessel appears to
be an authentic reproduction
of a Navy missile ship.

ship. You can take command of your ves-
sel late in October.

October is also the month when you can
assume the role of a monstrous creattu-e
on a software rampage. Yes, Rampage
(the coin-op masterpiece) has finally sur-
faced in home computer land. The pro-
gram featui^s three huge monstere (goril-
la, reptile and wolf) who are desperately
fighting for survival. They climb sky-
scrapers, punch buildings (until they fall
down), smash attacking choppers, destroy

John Jermaine: Why did you choose Pete
Rose to contribute to the design of your
new baseball program?
Scott Orn We were trying to re-create the
experience of playing real regulation
baseball for the first time on a home com-
puter. When it came to finding an expert
on the subject, I had one person in mind
for the job. Pete Rose has been in profes-
sional baseball as a player and manager
for more than 25 years, and he's also been
the manager of the Cincinnati Reds for a
while. His expertise in these two areas
made him a valuable asset for the project.
We were really very foitunate that Pete
agreed to work hand-in-hand with us to
make Pennant Fever the most realistic
baseball game on the market.
Jermaine: Had you played wth micro-
computers before Pete Rase Pennant Fever
came along?

Pete Rose: No, I hadri't. We did our thing
in San Francisco one day, shortly before a
Reds ba.'Sball game. Scott let me plav
£ux)tmd with the pmgram for half an horn-
to 45 minutes. They finally had to tell me
we were going on the air at the ball park

tanks, step (*ti soldiers, and eat the people
who are trying to shoot them. There are
approximately 157 cities to "trasli" in the
game, as you search for food to maintain
your level of strength and stamina. Yom-
giant companions are also trying to put
you out of conunission, so get them before
they get you.

Predator is planning to stalk microcom-
puter prey in November. Activision tells
me the program is patterned after the
storyline of the popular movie. The player,
taking the Arnold Schwarzenegger role,
leads an elite commando team through
the jungles of South America, Your mis-
sion consists of locating and rescuing
some kidnapped American diplomats
from the clutches of rebel forees in the
area. What seems like just another dan-
gerous assignment gradually evolves into
a frightening experience. Members of

to get me to stop playing Pennant Fever.
It really had me hooked. You move the
fielders, you move the hitter, and you even
control the swing of the bat. So you get
pretty involved in the whole thing. I really
don't know much about computer games,
in genera], but Fm glad I had the opportu-
nity to design and create this one.
Jermaine: Tbll me more about Pete Rose
Pennant Fever.

Orn Well, we used all baU dubs in the
program. Players in the game were actu-
Continued on page ! 14

92 DECEMBER 1988

Pete Rme Pennant Fever

Rampage

U.S.S. Ocean Ranger

nnn

-t«ilM • <■

ir-m

i:-i

false Down

your group are slaughtered one by one,
until you find yourself alone against an
intergalactic nianhunter iwho stalks you
for the sport of it). Predator is basically a
fast-moving arcade game that ciiallenges
the player to acquire the proper weapons
and use them wisely to stay alive.

Capcom U.S.A., Inc.

Amiga: Late in the third quarter, Amiga
translations oiBionic Commandos and
Street Fighter will be introduced to the
public. In case you haven't heard of Bionic
Commandos, it's a futuristic military op-
eration (where your soldier has telescop-
ing arms, the latest weapons and bionic

Silent Software

Silent Software, a new name in the indus-
try, is showing a lot of promise. Its people
are veteran software developers, and
they've set their sights higher than most of
the Amiga competition. I recently inter-
viewed Reichart Von Wolfshield, a repre-
sentative of the group, who told me about
their future plans.

John Jermaine: TfeO me about your new
software projects.

Reichart Von Wolfshield: Do you remem-
ber Jim Sachs, the programmer/artist who
created Saucer Attack several years ago
on the 64? He's currently working on an
Amiga project called 20,000 Leagues Un-
der The Sea. The graphics are absolutely
incredible, and Jim is doing the job right.
We expect to release the product some-
time near the end of 1989.

By the end of 1988, however, we hope to
have Onion (.our first Amiga release)
ready to put on the market. Onion is basi-
cally a sophisticated black and white ani-
mation tool that was originally developed
for in-house use. I know what you're

Onion enables our people to
generate true animation in a
hurry, without having to draw
things out on paper a
thousand times or more.

thinking Why would anyone want to cre-
ate a black and white paint package for
the Amiga'.' The program is similar to a
cartoonist's pencil test or "flip book"
(where you flip through the pages to pro-

C(jnt:iuicd on patji' ll.i

powers). Players invade the enemy for-
tress, slaying their foes and deactivating
their doomsday weapons. Now that you've
heard the briefing, the rest is up to you.

Capcom's S/terms is a fast-
moving arcade game that
takes place in outer space.

Street Fighter, on the other hand, is a
quest to become the greatest street fighter
of all time. You've accepted challenges to
do battle around the world with ten oppo-
nents who also want the title. Sometimes
a fight is strictly a test of strength and
skill, but several of your adversaries have
magical powers. The program's graphics
are great, the sounds are interesting, and
the action never stops,

Sidearms and 1943 will also be released
during the fall. Capcora's Sidearms is a
fast-moving arcade game that takes place
in outer space. The user can aajuire a
number of different weapons as he blasts
his way through enemy fleets and zones of
floating space debris. I really liked the 64
version of the game, but the Amiga trans-
lation has been rewritten to take advan-
tage of the system's superior sound and
graphics capabilities.

In 1943, Amiga software pilots fly mis-
sions against the poweiful Japanese fleet
as it prepares to invade Midway Island.
This is a great shoot-'em-up, where the
player has to deal with enemy bombers,
fighters, aircraft carriers, destroyers and
the like. It also pays to keep an eye out for
the enemy's secret weapons. If they can't
defeat you by conventional means, expect
them to try something a bit more sinister.

Coming in 1989: Forgotten Worlds, for the
64 and Amiga, is slated to ship early in
the year. The user assumes the role of an
intergalactic adventurer who is fighting
for his life in a hostile sector of space.
Players battle giant snakes that suddenly
appear and tiy to swallow you, monsters
that i«semble the creatures in Aliens,
fierce warriors who look like ancient
Egyptians and a number of other lethal
foes. In the two-player mode, the heroes
join forces to save the universe. It's inter-
esting to note that the characters have
maximum fire power when they're close
together, so don't let your enemies drive
you apart. The program also features
amazing 3D graphics, eight different
colorful scenes, a store that sells various
types of weapons, and a new way of look-

COMMODORE MAGAZINE 93

ing at things (you can rotate your perspec-
tive a full 360 degrees). In short, I believe
Forgotten Worlds is destined to become a
software classic.

As the third quarter comes to a close,
Ghosts and Gobliiis: Part II should be out
for both the 64 and Amiga home comput-
ers. The program contains ghastly zom-
bies, snakes that come up from the
ground, a terrible storm (with plenty of
wind, rain and lightning), and numerous
interesting visual effects. If you're addict-
ed to action-packed arcade games, Ghosts
and Goblins H will have you hooked in a
matter of seconds.

Strider, for the two systems, is also
scheduled to ship in June or July. No de-
tails are available at this time, however.

Cinemaware Corporation

[Editor's Note: See ' 'Cinemaware: In
Search of Interactive Excellence" in the
November issue o/" Commodore Magazine
for a complete update on Cinemaware's re-
leases through 1988.]

Coming in 1989: Bob Jacobs, president of
Cinemaware tells me they have no plans
to develop a sequel to Tlie Three Stooges
in the near fiiture. There wilt be two fol-
low-up TV Sports projects next yeai', one of

which will be a basketball game. One of
the best-kept secrets at Cinemaware, how-
ever, is their new horror movie project
based on classic 1950's black and white
films. This program will be larger than
Lords of th£ Rising Sun and promises to
be an exciting experience.

Data East

64/128: Victory Road (the sequel to Ikari
Warriors) was scheduled for an October
release. This time, the three heroes of
Ikari Warriors battle the evil guardians of
the Tfemple of Demons. The player can
protect himself by picking up a number of
weapons including: flame throwers, super
grenades and several diflferent types of
guns. A smart user manages his fire pow-
er like a business because everything is in
short supply. After completing many lev-
els of play and destroying hordes of power-
ful monsters, you finally reach your desti-
nation and confront the mighty demon of
the temple.

Super Hang -On, an elaborate motorcy-
cle simulation, is also scheduled to ship in
October

Coming in 1989: Early in the year, Robo-
cop will be knocking down the doors of 64
owners. Data East couldn't reveal any in-
formation about this product, except to

The Honeymooners

Mike Breggar, First Row's Director of
Software Design, talked to me about The
Honeymooners Game. Mike is a 35-year
old trivia buff who's a podiatrist by day
and a professional programmer by night.
Ive also asked Howard Berk, Director of
Licensing at Viacom Productions, to com-
ment on the subject.
Jerraaine: Tfell me about The Honey-
mooners.

Mike Breggar: Basically, it's an interac-
tive situation comedy on the computer
The Raccoon Lodge Convention is being
held in Miami Beach, Florida, and you (as
Ralph, Ed, Trixie or Alice) want to attend
that special conference. This means the
player has to earn a lot of money in oi-der
to catch a train and journey to the land of
swaying palm trees. The train moves
v^^ong on railroad tracks, which resemble
ft/]the spaces of a conventional board game.
^Players get to move one ti-ack space for
"''eveiy SlO earned in the program. The
Hone\'mwners also contains four diSerent
seen arias (one about each of the famous
L^characters).

94 DECEMBER 1988

Jermaine: What are the scenarios like?
Breggar: Two mini-games are nearing
completion. One scenario has you, as
Ralph, sitting behind the wheel of a city
bus where a number of things are taking
place. Whenever people are waitit^ at a
bus stop, for example, you must pick them
up. Each passenger will tell you where he
wants to go. Then you have to remember
the name of that street and drop them off
at the proper location. The user receives a
certain amount of money for every pas-
senger he takes to the right destination.
In the Ed Norton challenge, the player
goes into the sewer system and tries to fix
leaks in the pipes. The farther you go into
the sewer, the more money you earn mak-
ing repairs. There's also a bonus leak,
that's worth more money than the stan-
dai"d leaks. So make as many repairs as
possible, and get out, of the sewer before
time runs out or you won't collect any
money.

.lermaine: How are the computers' capa-
bilities used in The Honeymooners?
Breggar: We're using digitized sound

Continued im page 116

1 J„!,'" It iBuVi'iiVt"**! Mtiinei *s

-' —- ^- ■• ■ • "" • uu'c. Mil- ri.<j . Jl.'.

Neummancer

The Twilight Zone

^^«i§i^

I .

Boot Camp

.•> *'

«»■■ I IB . !*y j**''. !<y

MMk«i*«*MriM«ll

Jackd

say it faithiully follows the storyline of the
movie. More home computer coin-op
translations are also imder development.
These titles include: Bad Dudes, Guerilla
Wars and Heavy Barrel (the hostage res-
cue game).

DigiTek

64/128 and Amiga: When Eambo is no-
where in sight, you can always count on
Joe Elude to get you out of a jam. The plot
of this game is simple; Crax Bloodfinger,
leader of an infamous band of terrorists,
has kidnapped six important world lead-
ers. Unless the countries pay $30 billion
dollars, the heads of state will lose their
heads. The captives are being held in
Bloodfinger's fortified headquarters,
which is crawling with members of his
elite private army. As the deadline ap-
proaches, the nations reftjse to pay the
ransom in an act of defiance against glo-
bal terrorism. Enter Joe Blade. He's a
fearless individual who received his basic
training in a Tibetan monasteiy. Armed
with a semi-automatic gun, our hero infil-
trates the enemy stronghold. Now it's
time to rescue the prisoners and set explo-
sives to decimate the place. When all six
bombs have been activated, Joe has about
twenty minutes to make his escape.
Watch for this exciting new product on
both the Commodore 64 and Amiga late
in the year.

Howdy, pardner! If you're looking for
real western action, mosey on down to the
keyboard and load up Western Games, a
new multi-event program that dares you
to participate in six unusual conteste.
There's Arm Wrestling, Beer Shooting,
Quid Spitting, a Dancing Contest, Cow
Milking and an Eating Competition. This
is a real break fitim the usual shoot-'em-
up programs. Overall, I give Western
GuTnes four stars (out of five) for its comi-
cal graphics, colorfiil backgrounds, fluid
motion and interesting sounds. You can
buy this time capsule competition early in
the fourth quarter

The Cyber Complex, another fourth
quarter release, transports you into the
gloomy world of the 21st century. You live
in an underground city, ruled by an ulti-a-
powerful robot. This supercomputer has a
problem: it's become a httle paranoid over
the years. In fact, the machine is extermi-
nating intelligent hxmian beings whom it
considers a threat to its fiiture existence.
You become the robot's chief trouble shoot-
er; your job is "rubbing out" people the
mechanism considers dangerous. When-
ever you kill one of these characters, you

can pick up his or her credits and any ob-
jects that person was carrying. You can
also purchase many useftd items includ-
ing cars, bazookas, bombs, hand grenades,
radar equipment, a solar calculator, etc. A
little robot, your partner in these adven-
tures, can also be equipped with numer-
ous special attachments. As you gain ex-
perience, your shirt changes color You
gradually evolve into one of the intelli-
gentsia. Now you are the hunted instead
of the hunter. The Commodore 64 version
should be available in October; the Amiga
is scheduled to ship in November.

Continued on page 113

Music-X

I spoke with play-tester Paul Stookey (of
Peter, Paul and Mary), to find out more
about MicrcDlusions Music-X.
John Jermaine: Is Music-X a program for
the average consumer who wants to make
music on his Amiga?

Paul Stookey: I have a feehng theyll real-
ly have to love computers in order to use
Ae product. Even though I haven't seen
the manual yet, I believe Music-X was de-
signed for the serious musician and the
home computer hacker out there.
Jermaine: What do you think of the pro-
gram overall?

Stookey: Tm initially impressed with its
menu and basic capabilities. The sequenc-
er allows you to save musical events two
different ways: (1) in real time (as you're
actually playing it), or (2) in step time
(note by note on the keyboard).

The advant^e of MTOI-oriented soft-
ware is you're not committing anything to
the medium. You're only committing the
memoiy of generating mflsic to the medi-
um. When you play the recording back,
it's all first-generation sound. In simple
terms, Music-X is like a robot that will
continually repeat the same musical pat-
tern you feed into it. That's why a lot of
"garage tapes" are appearing on the mar-
ket these days. All an artist has to do is
pack up his equipment {an Amiga, Music-
X and the instruments he uses), work m
his garage for a while, take eveT3rthing to
!a legitimate studio, and he can make re- ,
"cordings featuring first-generation back-
ground music. In one pass, you can record
genuine first-generation sound where
tempo information occupies one track, the ,
I melody line is on another track, the base j
' hne is on still another track, etc. There ;i

: Continued on page 117'f

COiv'.f/iODORE M.'\GAZ1NE 95

PUMPING GEOS'

GEOS 2.0

Berkeley Softworks' series of
GEOS-compatible products opens
up a world of opportunity to
Commodore users. Take some
tips from Mark Jordan and soon
you too will be Pumping GEOS.

GEOS 2.0 is new and improved. Very
improved. No doubt you've seen the
ads which tell of many of the refinements
of the package. And it really is a package:
now you get geoSpell, geoWrtte2.1, Text
Grabber, and more with the GEOS sys-
tem. Everything is faster, smoother and
easier to use. It is truly a program that
has come of age.

But is it worth it? You may already
have invested over $100 in GEOS soft-
ware. Does the new, improved product
merit another $25 dollars of your hai'd-
eamed money? Or would you be happier
spending it on a supreme pan pizza? Be-
cause let's be honest, folks, if a piece of
software can't pass the pizza test, it's just
not worth buying.

I think it's worth it. If you're a GEOS
user you will appreciate more than any
one particular feature, the more profes-
sional "fee!" of the program. Ever>lhing
seems to be getting even more intuitive
than GEOS already was, and that's saying
something.

The Little Things

Thke the clock, for instance. When you
boot up GEOS 2.0, a clock/calendar is sit-
ting up on the command line just waiting
for you to type in the correct time and
date. It takes about five seconds to do so.
Just click on it and type. There's no hunt-
ing around for drop-down menus or wait-
ing for this or that to load into memory.
Ifs there and it's working. The proof of its
value is that I find myself always using it
as soon as I boot up. This is in contrast to
the dozens of other programs and operat-
ing systems I've used where I never ever
input the time.

Another real nice touch is the fact that
mgeoPaint you can now use the cursor
keys to move the pointer a pixel at a time.
With a mouse or joystick it's tough to
make such delicate movements, and lots
of times it's delicate movements you want.
This feature, though not promoted as
much as some of the others, adds im-

Everything seems to be
getting even more intuitive
than GEOS already was, and
that's saying something.

mensely to the professional feel of GEOS.
Here's another subtle improvement: now,
when you open the Photo Manager, it
automatically opens the first file on disk.
When using geoPuhlish, this saves one
step. Not much, until you start ^eoPi/6-
lishmg a lot, in which case any steps
saved are appreciated.

Ever trashed a file you wished you
hadn't? You can now un-trash it, so long
as it's the last one trashed.

The Other Things

The Desklbp seems to be spiffed up and
sped up in almost every way Now you can
move icons around on the disk note pad
where you want them instead of fu-st posi-
tion fu^t, etc. And now, if you select a new
printer driver or input driver, the icons
will exchange position on the disk note
pad automatically.

I also appreciated the multiple-icon fea-
ture. Now you can select more than one
icon at a time to move, copy, trash, what-
ever. The procedure is simple and intu-
itive: simply hold down the COMMO-
DORE key as you click icons, then when
you want to perform some action on the
group, click on any of the highlighted
icons, and you'll get a new icon called
"Mult-file" which you can manipulate.

A feature that 1571 owners will really
like is the one that lets you now use both
sides of your disk. No longer is a two-drive
system a minimum setup. You can put
lots of fonts and files on disk and still have
more than a byte or two left.

They say in the literature that file copy-
ing is faster, though I couldn't verify this.
Just like they say thai geoSpell is faster —
38% faster— though I couldn't verify this

by Mark Jordan

either because I never had the original
geoSpell. I can verify that eveiything
seems faster.

And guess what. You can now color-code
your icons by type. Thus you could have
all your applications blue, your geoWrite
files red, and so on. Fm a believer in color-
coding but it takes long-term use to really
make it work. At any rate, with the old
GEOS, you couldn't do it and now you can.

GeoWrite is version 2.1 which a lot of
you already have. If you're still working
with an earlier version, this inclusion
alone may make GEOS 2.0 a must buy.

GeoPaint is where I feel the most useftil
improvements have come. A constrain
feature— which works with lines, circles,
and boxes — has been added. With it you
can draw lines that are either vertical,
horizontal, or 45-degree angles (and noth-
ing else). With constrain and circle select-
ed, you will draw perfect circles. Shut it off
and your circles will become ellipses. Him
it back on and select the box icon and
you'll get boxes only, no rectangles. Shut
it off and rectangles are available.

The bitmap scaling feature is my favor-
ite. If you own geoPublish, you'll quickly
recognize it from that program. Now you
can enlarge, stretch or shrink any item
you grab. It's easy to do, just use the Edit
box tool to grab something, go to the Edit
menu and choose "copy" or "cut," define a
new region any size with the Edit box tool,
and choose "paste" from the Edit menu.
You'll get a dialog box that will let you
center your original item if you wish, or
scale it to size. You can smooth it (get rid
of the jaggies) in the piwess and/or make
it either transparent or opaque. Last of
all, you can even change the pattern of
the graphic. This means that instead of all
black areas being black, you can make
them any of the standard GEOS patterns.
Check out the 'Pumping GEOS" docu-
ment to see bitmap scaling in action.

There are several other improvements
to geoPaint, many of which I haven't real-
ly tested yet. As I stated earlier, the cursor
control of the pointer is a big small im-
provement, if you know what I mean.

Conclusions

Is everything perfect now in GEOS-
land? No. I still don't particularly like sit-
ting and waiting so much when I'm using
the system. I don't have the RAM expand-
er and that would make a big difference,
Continued on page 112

96 DECEMBER 1988

Pumping GEOS/GEOS 2.0 •

IVol, 1, Num 4]

The Ongoing Adventures of geoPete

The best new features of the GEOS 20 package come with gcoPaint And
the best of these features is the Bitmap scaling feature Below I have
re-created a geoPaint screen to show what kind of effects can I>c easily
achieved using bitmap scaling

Also, fast for fun, Ive included a
few errors in frames 2 - 4 of
geoPete To be exact, there arc 3
of them per frame Use the first
frame as your {excuse the pun)
frame of reference geoPaint is
excellent at creating these kind
of observation-powers puzzles
In an upcoming issue, ril make a
real tricky one

Mouse Specks

Nov that the mouse has become an integral
part of many home computer systems, the
question arises, vhat do you call more
than one of them. That's easy, comes the
hasty response — nice. Anyone knovs
that the plural of mouse is mice.

But not so fast. The vord lice is the plural
of loase and you knov 8.s veil as 1 do that
you'd never call those tvo jerks vho vork
at the office lice. You'd call them the a
couple of louses.

Berkeley Softvorks seems to think mice is
the acceptable form. Page 2-27 of the GEOS
1.2 User's Manual states "Berkeley
Softvorks is vorking vith Commodore and
other mice manufacturers ."

I beg to differ. 1 have tvo mouses at my
house and instinctively, vhenever
anybody in the family mentions them in
the plural., they say, "Hey, hov come both
mouses are alvays missing?"

What's right!* ¥ell, I happen to knov that,
contrary to p'Opular t>elief, the real rules
for language come not from a f ev elitists
guarding the store, but from you and me
and all the other speakers in the land.

So nov's your chance: vrite to me in care
of Commodore Magazine and tell me,
mouses or mice. I'll report the results in
an upcoming issue.

q«o? I file ; edit ; option; ; tcnl

f«oPe(e - 1

depressed.

Bftcottse

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COMMODORE MAGAZINE 97

TEVEX Computer Software 1-800-456-1162 |

AMIGA I [AMIGA | [0-64 ~i rC-64 | C-64 t C-64 t

Adv. Constr. Set $15

Air Rally $28

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Alt. Reality: City 328

Arcade Action S34

Arcticfox 315

Arkanoid S21

Aaargh S25

Balance Power S34

Barbarian S28

Bard's Tale I S34

Bard's Tale II $41

Battle Chess S35

Beyond Zork $34

Breach S28

Breach Scenario S18

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Chmp Football $34

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Questron II

Roadwar 2000

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Roadwars

RockBt Ranker

Hockford

S.D.l.

7 Cities of Gold

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Sinbad

Skvfoxit

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Starfleet I

Stargliderll

£lf go Baskttbail

Terrorpods

Test Drive

Thexder

Three Slooges

Ultima III

Uninvited

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Winter Games

ier Bowd

!om Games
World Tour Golf
Zoom

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334
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basketball S30 U

C-64

Fire Power
Flight Sim II
jth & Inches
Gettysburg
Hardball
Harrier Combat
Hunt Red Oct
Impos. I^iss. 2
Jet Sim
Jinxster
Kampfgruppe
King ofChicago
Kings Qst I, II or III
Leatfierneck
fvlarble fuladness
fVlean 18
Moebius
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One on One
Paladin

Paladin Quest
Phantasiel or III
Ports of Call
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Return Atlantis

$18
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332
S41
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Echelon S31

WC Leader Board 328

Course Disks SIS

Tenth Frame S28

mCCOLADE^::

Ace of Aces
Apollo 18
Card Sharks
Fa5f Bre&k
4th & Inches
4th Constr Set
Hardball
Law of the West
Mm Putt
Power at Sea
Flack'em

f erv0 S VolleY
py vs Spy I & II
SteelTnunder
Test Drive

$12
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321
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322
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Aliens $24

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SR Boxing II $22

zfckWcKrack S25
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Dark Horn 324

NBA 328

Super Sunday 324

Under Fire 324

UFIWap Maker 319

WoodB n Ships $24

WBR 0DERB UND

Carmen Syrops $28

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Carmen - World 324

Choplifte r $12

\CINEM AWA RE^'3^
Defender Crown S24
Sinbad 324

Three Stooges _$24

WDA fASOFf"" """1

AR-City $21

AR- Dungeon 323
Qo?mic Belief 319
Global Com dr. 322
Hunt Red Oct $28

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Adv Construction $12

Arcticfox $12

Bard's Tale I or II S28

Hint Books (ea) $10

Bard-sjale III $28

Hint Book SIO

Chess 2006 $28

Chuck Yeager $24

Dragon's Lair 318

Earth Orbit 312

Legacy Ancients 321

Marble Madness 312

Monooqiv 322

One on One $12

Palton - Rommol Si 2

Pegasus S21

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Skyfox il $21

Starfleet I $28

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PROGRAMMING'

by Mark Jordan

A Beginner's
Guide to
1541/1571 Disk
FUes

Suppose you buy a business, a solid
business, Youi" fii"st day at the place
you are astounded at the hundt-eds of file
cabinets. You ask one of the employees,
"How does anyone know what record is in
what file?" He responds, "Simple, just ask
Hilda." Hilda, it turns out, is a one-eyed
file Hbrarian.

And she's mean. So you decide to leave
all that kind of work to the others while
you sit in the office and do presidential
stuff like giving orders.

For a while, this works.

Then one night you are at the office
late, reading box scores fiiom USA Today.
The phone rings. You answer. The caller,
your biggest customer, wants to know
about his account. Sweat beads appear on
your brow. You just knew this day was go-
ing to come. You lush to the files and be-
gin thrashing about. Two hom-s later you
leave, file foldere stiiewn on the floor and
one less customer to wony about. An un-
likely scenario? Not if you see it as an
analogy. Let me interpret it. The business
you bought is your computer. Hilda is the
operating system (DOS I that comes with
your disk drive. The files, ah need you
ask? They are your disk files. And the
late-night call? That's the first time you
decide you need to personally get at your
disk files.

Have you had your late-night call yet?
You will. Maybe it will happen when you
purchase a new word processor and want
to transfer your old files to the new sys-
tem. Or maybe one day for who-knows-
what reason some old files won't load. Oi-
maybe it will come when you decide to
write a little program that needs to save
information on the disk.

I cannot tell you when it will happen,
but happen it will and this much I can do:
prepare you. That way, instead of panic,
anger, and regrettable behavior, you can
answer that "phone" with confidence.

This Better Not Get Complicated

I think the reason so many computer
owners shy away from learning how to

master the disk drive is because they've
read a little about the processes, and it
has left them blank. Too many teims, like
block, track and sector, and too many
crj-ptic abbreviations, like BAJVl, GRC,
and MFM, As Curley of Three Stooges
fame might say, "This is confusing." Jar-
gon is okay — in fact, it's quite usefiil — but
not for this article. Let the following "the-
ory" be sufficient: disks hold data like I'e-
cord albums hold sound. The disk drive's
brain knows where to "drop the needle" if
we just ask it to. It knows this because it
keeps a catalog, or dii^ectory, of just where
everything is located on the disk. Think of
this like a library with its card catalog
telling where all the books ai-e. In this li-
brary, however, users are not allowed to
get any books themselves: they must re-
quest their information from a reference
librarian.

The reference librarian in youi" disk
drive is the operating system — one-eyed
Hilda. I My invention: don't expect to find
this in your manual index. Her one eye,
by the way, is the disk drive's light.) And
Hilda is extremely etiquette-conscious.
Hcky. If you want information from her
you will have to ask for it in just the right
manner or risk her angry stare.

Of course, this applies not only to get-
ting infoi-mation from your disk, but also
to storing it there as well. You will work
via this same nit-picking librarian and
you will obey all rules.

That's the bad news. The good news is
that there are only ten rules for you to
worry about.

Tfen?! Yes, but a mere three program
lines will accomplish all ten.

lb learn the process, you will need a
disk that you can save to. Get one and put
it in the disk drive and turn youi- comput-
er on .. . it's time head down to the library.

Writing a File

We will start by writing a short file to
the disk, lb write a file means to create a
new one on the disk, even if we don't put
anything in it. We'll give it a name and
Hilda, our disk drive, will put it into the
card catalog. Then it's there for whenever
we want it.

So let's get creating and learn the rules.
Type the following line:

10 OPEN 2,8,2,"TEST,W"

RLILE 1: Politely get Hilda's (your disk
drive's) attention. The OPEN statement is
the equivalent of saying to your disk
drive, "Er, excuse me but I need some
help."

RULE 2: Tkke a number, the first of 3.
This number is your "file number." Hilda
won't mess with you if you don't have it.
The number should be bet%veen 1 and 127.
We chose a 2 in this instance. Why 2?
Why not?

Place this file number immediately
after each OPEN statement with no punc-
tuation between the two. A comma should
follow it and all other numbers in your
OPEN statement. Once a file is OPENed,
any time we want to refer to it, we simply
use this number.

RULE 3: Pick an 8. This is the device
number Why 8? Commodore disk drives

100 DECEMBER 1988

Programming/A Beginner's Guide to 1541/1571 Disk Files'

come shipped as device number 8. It's this
number that assures Hilda that you're
talking to her. Had we put a 4 here, the
printer would have stiired. A 1 would've
put the cassette recorder into motion, if we
had one. When working with Commodore
disk diives, we will always use the num-
ber 8 as our device number, unless we
have a second drive. Those of you who do,
already know that you had to change its
device number, most likely to 9. It's veiy
simple to write (or read) fix)m the second
drive — you just change this number to 9.
By the way, don't forget your comma after
this number

RULE 4: Pick another number, this
time one between 2 and 15. Again, a com-
ma must follow it. This number is official-
ly known as the channel number, but
most folks refer to it as the secondary ad-
dj'ess. Secondajy addresses are the source
of much confusion when dealing with
printers and interfaces. With disk drives,
you only need to know the following: an
address of is reserved for program loads,
1 is reserved for progi'am saves, and 15 is
resei-ved for special disk di-ive commands.

So why are we using a 2 hei«? Because
we used 2 as oiu- file number. It just
makes it easier to keep ti'ack of things.

RULE 5; Tell the disk dri\'e the name of
the file you want to store. Oui- example
hei-e chose the name "TEST". Don't omit
the quotations mai'ks or you'll get about
as far with Hilda as a child tiying to train
a cat to sit.

RULE 6: Tfell the disk drive whether
you want to store or retrieve a file. The
commaAV tells her that you want store
one (the W stands for "wiite" which is syn-
onymous with "store"), Later, we'll learn
to use a comma/R to rettieve a file. Since
we're writing a file, it's impoitant to om-
disk drive to see if a file already exists by
that name. Hilda will check. If none ex-
ists, she will get a file folder out of the
drawer and create a new entiy to catalog.
That's what she's doing now.

There, that wasn't so bad. Now that
we've got our file on Hilda's desk, any
time we want her to do anything with the
file all we need to do is refer to it by its
number So let's do something with it.

20 PRINT#2,"THIS IS A TEST"

RULE 7: TfcU the disk drive to place
something in our file. PRINT# is what
Hilda needs to hear.

RULE 8: Tfell the disk diive which file.
It's 2, remember. And don't forget to follow
the number with the comma, as always.

RULE 9: Tfell the disk drive what to put
in the file. Now here you have some op-

tions. You can put things in the file just
the same way you can print things onto
the screen: with direct quotes, with varia-
bles, or with plain old numbers. In our
line 20, we simply put what we wanted to
save inside of quotes and that was that.

But it would have worked just as well to
send that data in the foim of a variable.
For example, w-e could have defined
A$='THIS IS A TEST" and then simply
used this format: PRINT#2,A$

This is a much more versatile method
and one you'll usually use when writing
programs.

If we wanted to send a number to the
file, we could have done it like this:
PRINT#2,7

Or we could have used a variable there
also instead of the direct number As in:
N=7:PRINT#2,N

After line 20 executes, Hilda v^ill do ex-
actly as she's told, plus she will add a RE-
TURN to the end of what we've printed.
This little habit of our computer is impor-
tant to know about. For those of you new
to programming, a RETURN to you is
simply a press of the RETURN key The
result is that the cursor will jump to the
next line on the left mai'gin. It gets its
name fhim electric typevmters which re-
turn the caniage each time it is pressed.

The computer, however, views RE-
TURN a little differently Each time you
press RETURN the computer inserts a
single character into whatever you're do-
ing. This character doesn't show on the
screen. It is just a number — 13.

Well, Hilda, our disk drive librarian, is
fastidious about putting a 13 at the end of
each PRINT# statement we use. You may
think of this as a bookmark. Later, when
viewing a file's contents, we'll see how use-
ful these bookmai'ks can be.

Guess what? We're done with our file.
But we need one more line to finish things
up. It's mostly a courtesy to Hilda, but like
all aspects of our relationship with this
woman, it's crucial to obey all fonnalities.

30 CLOSE 2

That's it? That's it. The rule is this:

RULE 10: TfeU Hilda to put the file
away CLOSE does that and 2 is the file
number Now, run this program. The disk
drive will work a little (but now we know
the truth — it's just Hilda) and then peace
wiU descend upon the land. We've just
written a file and saved it to disk. Hilda's
happy, we're happy, everybodys happy.

Our whimsical little exercise may not
seem all that earthshaking, but if you've
stuck with me this far, you now have a

Canlinued un fiage 110

Fiighf
notes

#2E

-^ Wrapping Gp Europe - The deadline for
entering our "Find Red Square" contest was
Movember 15th. 1988. Current plans call for
a mid-December drawing to determine the
contestwinner. This contest, requiring you to
use Flight Simulator or Jet to locale Red
Square on our new "Western European
Tour" Sceneiy Disk, was as much fun for us
as it was for you! Watch for another Scenery
Disk promo contest next year.

-^ The success of Stealth Mission has
really surprised us. Rather than develop
product quickly for an increasingly
cost-conscious consumer market, our
engineering staff decided to spare no
expense and create the ultimate simulation in
terms of strategic depth and program polish.
One example of Stealth Mission's strategic
depth is the ability to choose your aircraft
type. Your ability to fly either an F- 19 Stealth
fighter, the experimental forward-swept wing
X-29. or a Mavy F-14 Tomcat provides a
first-hand perspective on the way mission
challenges can vary depending on your
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Stealth Mission's polish is like nothing you've
ever experienced before. One

much-appreciated new feature is the ability
to pause aircraft motion while you adjust your
strategies (such as weapon/target selection)
or system settings. For fumble-fingered
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me concentrate more on my strategies rather
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Autopilot landing and airborne refueling
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truly a gem. Enjoy!

-^ Its Back! Not advertised since early
1964, the classic Might Mission Pinball will
be back in production once again by the time
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Geowrite Workstiop 1 28

Geowrite Workshop 64

'»Vcrdout3iisher

35
22
22
45
39
■4S
39
45
39
45
45
19
45
39
28

PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Bodyiog; Caidio Exercise 75

Bodyiog Enhanced Stress Heduct 229
49
54
89
12
22
30
22
19

Bodyiog Harilab

Bodyiog Muscle DevelDpement

Bodyiog Stress Reduction

Boston eartendei's Guide

Budge 5

Ctiessmaster 2000

Or Rum's Bk Good Sex

Dream Machine Analyser

Family Tree 128

Family Tree 64

Jeopardy 2

Monopoly

Paul Whitehead Chess

Setabbie

SciubOies

Sexual fdge

Stridor's Classical Music EA

Tarot12a

Wheel ol Fortune 2

SPREADSHEETS

Pocket Planner 2
Swiltcaic 1 28 w/Sidewiys
Swittcaic 64w/Sidd«ays
Vizistar 128

EDUCATIONAL

AipnaoeiZM S 18

Aip^abuiid 6

Calc uius by Numeric Methods 27

Counting Parade 6

Early Learning friends 6

Easy Sign (sign Language) 17

Evelyn Wood Dynamic Reader 1 7

Pacemaker 1 6

First Men Moon Man 1 9

Hayoen SAT Preparation 32

How 10 Program m Basic 24

Kids on Keys 18

Kidsword (large characters) 35

Kidwrder 22

Kindercorap 1 8

Linkword French 19

Linkword Frencn2 19

Linkword German 19

Linkword Italian 19

Linkword: Russian 1 9

Linkword: Spanish 1 9

Little Computer People 1 2

Mithbusters 22

Mavis Beacon Typing 30

Memory Academy 1 5

RS.VP, 21

Reading 1 (Peier Rabbit) 19

Reading 2 (Jungle Book] I 9

SWM AddfSublract 22

SWHAdd/SuDiractw/Decimals 22

SWM AddlSutllract w/Fraclions 22

SWM MItply/Divide w/Decimais 22

SWM Mllply/Divide wi'Fraclions 22

SWM Multpiy;Di»ide 22

Sky Travel 35

Slickybear ABC's 22

Stickybear Math 1 22

Sbckybear Math 2 22

Stickybear Numbers 22

Stickybear Opoosites 22

Stickybear Reading 22

Stickybear Reading Comp 22

Stickybear Speilgratber 22

Stickybear Townbmkjer 22

Ticket to London 21

Ticket to Pans 21

Ticket to Spam 21

Ticket to Washington DC 21

Where Caimen-Europe 29

Where Carmen USA 29

Where Carmen-World 29

Widham Below the Root 1 2

Widham-Swiss Family Robsin 1 2

Widham-Wijard ot OZ 12

Widham Alice m Wnnderland 1 2

WOnOPROCESSORS

Bank Street Writer 35

fleet Syslem 2 + (C64) 39

Fleet System 4 |C1 28) 52

Fontmasler 1 28 w/Sjcller 39

Fontmaster II (C64) 35

Paperclio 3 39

Pocket Dictionary 64'1 28 10

Pocket Writer 2 39

Superscript 1 28 45

Vi;istarl2B 60

WordPro 1 28 wrSpell w/Filer 30

WordPro 64 wISpell 30

Wordwriter 1 28 37

Wordwnter 3 (C64) 3D

Write Stull 128 NEW 24

WntBSlull64 19

Write Stull 64 w/Talker 24

Cirnrc AifGnmEnT

1541/1571 Oriue Alignment
This excellent alignment program is a must have
for every Commodore owner. Easy to use. it helps
you to align your drive so that it runs just as if it
were new! The simple instructional manual and
on-screen help prompt you thru the alignment
procedure and help you adjust the speed and head
stop of your drives. It even includes instructions
on how to load the alignment program when
nothing else will load. Don't be caught short! We
get more RED LABEL orders for this program, then
any other program we sell. Save yourself the
expense! Order now, keep it in your library and
use the 1541/1571 Drive Alignment program
regulady!! Works on the C64, CI 28. and SX64 lor
both the 1541 and 1571 drives.

STILL ONLY $25.00

Home Designer

Home Designer CAD 128

Given glowing ratings by evefy major Commodore
magazine, this CAD system outclasses every
other CAD program, because of its object-based
design. With over 50 powerful commands, 5
drawing layers, superb support of library figures
and lazBr-quality printouts at ANY scale on your
dot matrix printer or plotter, you can create
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from them!

Tired of working with poor quality/inaccurate print-
outs, manipulating little dots on a bit-map, giving
up on detailed work because you can't zoom in
close enough? Join the professionals!

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This full-featured disk utilities system, for your
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this line package are:

•Copy whole unprotected t541j157l disks lo 15B1 partitions

•Copy unprolecled 1541(1571 tiles lo 1581 disks

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•Backup 1581 files or disks *ith 1 oi 2 ISBI's

•1561 Disk Editor. Ofive Monitor and RAM Writer

•Includes numerous DOS commands sucti as Bename a lile'dlsk,

•SciatchiUnscratch tiles, Lock/Unlock tiles. Create AuM-Boot and

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'r'es...we know that Ram Expanders are scarce
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only $29.00

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The most productive CI 28 word processor on the
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60 User-definabie macros. Up to 64K divided into
10 work areas. Built-in Outline Generator, File
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preview for up to 250 columns, WYSIWYG
preview. Industrial strength printer macros.
Load/save to 16K buffer. Support 1700/1750
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Micro justification/line pitch control; Create
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you need power, you won't find another w/p
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PRQTOLINC BBS 128 nnkM

This fast & flexible multi-message base Bulletin
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packed fufi of features. It supports 1 500 Users, all
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relative files are used in the board, so you won't
be plagued by file crashes. Full Remote Sysop
control. Multi-level menu forease-of-use, supports
up to 8 drives and a host of protocols including
Punter. Xmodem, Checksum $ Xmodem CRC.
Works with 1650, 1670 and most 100% Hayes
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If you have been searching for a BBS that uses the
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your answer

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TAROT-I28

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Memory Academy 128

f/emory Academy will help you improve your ablli
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(BO column monitor required)

GREAT ACCESSORIES FOR VOUR CG4/C12B
The Drive Box With some simple souldering you
can make any Commodore drive switcbable bet-
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2-For-1 or 4-For 1 Serial Boxes - Connect 2 or 4
peripherals to the box and share with another
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2-For 1 Box Is $29.DD. 4-For-1 Box is S39.0G.

Quick Brown Box - A great cartridge into which
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What you store will remain intact, even with the
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32K Box is S79.D0; 64K Box is S99.00.

M3 Mouse - If you are looking for a reliable, well-
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OROERINIi INSinUCTIDHS

for your coovEnicnce. you can place a pHone order 2A HOURSr? DAYS A WEEK on our TOLL FHEE LINE
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We do our very t}esl to help you with your product selections, before you order and alter yoj ret^eive your
product. General quesiions, price, and corT^patibitily with your computer, etc will be handled by our order
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PROGRAMMING'

by Jared Gfoth

Pokeless
Sprites

for the Commodore 64

Pokeless Sprites is a short (396 bytes I
machine language utility that will al-
low you to easilj' control sprites. Instead of
looking up addresses to poke to or worry-
ing about logical operators, all you will
have to do is change a few variables.
Whether you are just starting out or an
experienced sprite programmer, you mil
find Pokeless Sprites a valuable utility.

Type the program in, then save it. Now
run the program. If the data is correct,
then you will see "pokeless on." Other-
wise, check your data statements.

The following explanation of how to use
pokeless sprites assumes you understand
the basics of sprite programming such as
how they get their shapes, what multico-
lor is, etc. If you don't, refer to the sprite
section in your user's guide.

Class One Variables:
Color and Position

The first variable in class one sets the
pointer to the sprite's shape. The com-
mand is: FTKsprite number) = value. If
you want to set the pointer for sprite zero
to 192, all you have to do is type:
P?f(0) = 192. The second variable allows
you to change the sprite's color. The vari-
able C% acts in the same way as P/f does.
Use C%(sprite number) - value to set it.
The coordinates are set by using the var-
iables X% and YVt. h\ the case of X<7f, val-
ues range from 0-511. The "seam" is auto-
matically taken care of The remaining
two variables in class one, Ml% and M27c,
set the multicolor one and two.

Class Two Variables:
On and Off, etc.

All class two variables have binary val-
ues. That is, their value is either 1 or 0,
E% turns sprites on and off, H9f controls
horizontal expansion, VVc conti-ols vertical
expansion, M9f turns multicolor mode on
and off, and B'7( sets priority over the
background. For example, to turn on
sprite five, just type E%(5) = 1. E%(5) =
turns it off.

How it Works

Pokeless Sprites works by modifying

BASIC through a technique called "bank
switching," Underneath the BASIC ROM
is a hidden RAM. Pokeless Sprites copies
the ROM to RAM, and then switches the
RAM in. Then key BASIC routines are
modified so that they jump to Pokeless
Sprites.

This method of modiftang BASIC has
several advantages. First, it doesn't slow
BASIC down as much as other methods
do. Second, it allows for shorter code.
Third, it allows you to treat the variables
exactly like you normally would. The big- '
gest disadvantage of this technique is that
you can't use any programs that make use
of the hidden RAM with Pokeless j

switched on, !

A few final notes. Pokeless does not
check to see if your variables are in range.
However, you can prevent problems by di-
mensioning arrays. Also, if you plan on
moving screen memory, you won't be able
to use P% unless you make the following
pokes: POKE 53207,LO : POKE
53208,HI. HI and LO ai^e the high and low

byte of the address for the first sprite
pointer. Tb shut Pokeless off, use RUN/
STOP RESTORE.

Finally, I have found Pokeless Sprites to
be a valuable utility that makes sprite
programming much less frustrating. I
hope you do too.

The author wishes to thank James
Ghofijlpo for his help in preparing this ar-
ticle.

Quick Reference Table

Name Range Explanation
P%( ) 0-255 Sets pointer value
C%{ ) 0-255 Sets color vaJue
X%( ) 0-511 Sets X coordinate
Y%() 0-255 Sets Y coordinate
Ml'%( )0.255 Sets multicolor ( 1 ) value
M2%( 10-255 Sets multicolor (2) value
E%( ) 0-1 llims sprites on and off
H%{ ) 0-1 Sets horizontal expansion
V%( ) 0-1 Sets vertical expansion
M9c{ ) 0-1 Sets multicolor mode oa'off
B%( ) 0-1 Sets background priority
Use: Name (sprite number) = value Q|

104 DECEMBER 1988

Programming/Pokeless Sprites"

Before typing thi« progratn. rcid "Huw m Entet Ptogrims" and "How to L'sc ihe Magazine
Emn- Ptogrira." Tht BASIC pri)gram> in this magazine are available on disk from Loidslar.
P-0. Boi 30008, Shrevcpori, U -ll.W<]00", I-800-83I-2694.

Pokeless Sprites

10 PRINT" (CLEAR] '"BATX
20 FOR X=0 TO 395:READ A

: POKE 52 8 50+X,A:CK=CK+A:NEXT' JXTl
30 IF CKO55607 THEN PRINT"ERROR IN

DATA STATEMENTS": END 'GIDL
40 SYS (52850) 'BHRB
50 PRINT"POKELESS ON"'BAWE
60 NEW'BALC

10001 DATA 169,000,162,160,133,095,
134'BCIW

10002 DATA 096,162,192,133,090,134,
091'BCRX

10003 DATA 133,088,134,089,032,191,
163'BCVy

10004 DATA 165,001,041,254,133,001,
173'BCUA

10005 DATA 178,207,174,179,207,141,
228 'BCDB

10006 DATA 177,142,229,177,160,076,
173'BCDC

10007 DATA 180,207,174,181,207,140,
211'BCFD

10008 DATA 169,141,212,169,142,213,
169'BCTE

10009 DATA 096,165,069,141,239,207,
165'BCFF

10010 DATA 070,141,240,207,140,237,
207'BCBW

10011 DATA 032,178,177,169,001,141,
241'BCNX

10012 DATA 207,165,101,172,237,207,
153'BCKY

10013 DATA 242,207,096,145,073,173,
241'BCRA

10014 DATA 207,208,001,096,169,000,
141'BCEB

10015 DATA 241,207,162,000,142,237,
207'BCAC

10016 DATA 189,182,207,009,128,205,
239'BCBD

10017 DATA 207,208,032,232,189,182,
207 'BCQE

10018 DATA 009,128,205,240,207,208,
021'BCCF

10019 DATA 232,189,182,207,141,253,
207'BCRA

10020 DATA 232,189,182,207,141,254,
207'BCSX

10021 DATA 232,189,182,207,108,253,
207'BCUY

10022 DATA 174,237,207,138,024,105,
005'BCJA

10023 DATA 170,224,090,144,199,096,
024'BCVB

10024 DATA 109,242,207,170,165,101,
157'BCJC

10025 DATA 000,208,096,174,242,207,
165'BCND

10026 DATA 101,157,248,007,096,141,

237'BCQE

10027 DATA 207,173,242,207,010,024,
109'BCBF

10028 DATA 237,207,168,165,101,153,
000'BCGA

10029 DATA 208,173,237,207,240,001,
096'BCLB

10030 DATA 174,242,207,169,001,224,
000'BCBY

10031 DATA 240,005,024,010,202,208,
252'BCNA

10032 DATA 141,237,207,165,100,208,
020'BCYB

10033 DATA 159,255,056,237,237,207,
141'BCAC

10034 DATA 237,207,173,016,208,045,
237'BCRD

10035 DATA 207,141,016,208,168,096,
173'BCUE ,

10036 DATA 016,208,013,237,207,141,
016'BCCF

10037 DATA 208,096,170,165,101,157,
000'BCHA

10038 DATA 208,096,141,237,207,174,
242'BCTB

10039 DATA 207,169,001,224,000,240,
005'BCRC

10040 DATA 024,010,202,208,252,141,
238 'BCVA

10041 DATA 207,165,101,240,013,174,
237'BCEB •

10042 DATA 207,189,000,208,013,238,
207'BCKC

10043 DATA 157,000,208,096,169,255,
056'BCYD

10044 DATA 237,238,207,141,238,207,
174'BCVE

10045 DATA 237,207,189,000,208,045,
238'BCSF

10046 DATA 207,157,000,208,096,171,
206'BCLA

10047 DATA 201,206,080,000,029,207,
000'BCLB

10048 DATA 088,000,038,207,000,089,
000'BCAC

10049 DATA 038,207,001,067,000,018,
207'BCYD

10050 DATA 039,069,000,119,207,021,
072'BCGB

10051 DATA 000,119,207,029,086,000,
119'BCDC

10052 DATA 207,023,077,000,119,207,
028 'BCFD

10053 DATA 066,000,119,207,027,077,
049'BCPE

10054 DATA 112,207,037,077,050,112,
207'BCCF

10055 DATA 38,029,254,200,128,000,
000"BCSA

10056 DATA 000,000,000,000,000,000,
000'BCWB

10057 DATA 000,000,000,119'BPGA

INO

COMMODORE MAGAZINE 105

PROGRAMMING'

by Mike Rivers

Introducing
Amiga CLI

PaH3

The Startup-Sequence

Last month we discussed the use of the
Amiga's screen editor, ED. This
month we will investigate the ''startup-se-
quence," found in the "S" directoiy of the
Workbench disk. The startup-sequence is
an executable file which is invoked upon
initialization or system reset. It is com-
prised of CU commands that configure
the Amiga and its operating system, and
usually concludes by loading Workbench.
You can use the CLI and ED to customize
your startup-sequence to your needs.

Let's look at the original startup-se-
quence on the stock A500/A2000 Work-
bench disk. (As always, work with a
backup copy of yom- Workbench disk.)
First, boot the Amiga and open a CLI win-
dow. For those of you who missed the last
two articles, refer to youi' system guide to
see how this is done, lb view and edit the
startup-sequence, type: "ed s'startup-se-
quence" at the CLI prompt. ED will dis-
play the contents of this file. Now let's
look at a line-by-line description.

The first thing we see is the "echo" com-
mand. This "writes a given argument to
the current output stream." You see this
enigmatic sort of language used in the
AmigaDOS manual. It illustrates the fact
that there are all sorts of things which
come under the heading of "arguments"
and many ways for output to be directed.
In this case, a message is printed to the
screen, "A500/A2000 Workbench disk. Re-
lease L2 version 33.59*N". The asterisk
and the "N" generate a line feed and are
not displayed when the message is
printed.

The next command to be executed is
"BindDrivers." BINDDRIVERS is used to
"bind" add-on hardware like hard disk
drives to device drivers found in the
SYS:Expansion directory. The hardware
has to have been "auto-configured" by the
expansion library. That is, the expansion
library has put each board in its own ad-
dress space or has linked memory boards
into the "memory free" pool.

Now we ojme to something that will
look familiar to a programmer — the "If'

command.

if Exists sys:system
Path sys:system add

endif
EXISTS checks to see if the object of the
argument, the directory "system," exists
in the root directory of the system disk,
designated by the logical de\'ice "SYS:".
Satisfied that the directory "system" ex-
ists, a route through the directory is added
to the operating system using the PATH
command. The conditional statement is
then terminated with the ENDIF com-
mand. After this path to the system draw-
er is established, the same thing is done
for the utilities drawer in like fashion.

Next, "Dir RAM:" is executed, which
will cause the RAM disk icon to appear on
the Workbench screen. A path to the
RAM disk is added with the PATH com-
mand.

"SetMap" is a L2 command which is
used to change the keymap for the key-
board. Here, it is set to "usal" for the
A500 and A2000.

"Addbuffers dfD: 20" adds 20-sector
cache buffers to the specified disk drive.
As the comment says, it uses up some
memoiy, but improves disk access time.

Now we get to 'TjoadWb" which, as you
may have guessed, loads Workbench.

The next command is particulai-ly in-
teresting, especially if you are used to see-
ing "go/no-go" error messages in BASIC.
'Tailat 30" means that if the program

gives a non-zero "return code" gi-eater
than or equal to 30, then the command se-
quence has failed and will abort. The i-e-
tum code (30) indicates how serious the
error was. The default value for FAILAT
is 10. If the fail limit is increased, it means
that you have designated certain classes
of errors to be non-fatal and that the re-
maining commands in the sequence may
proceed. Immediately after setting the re-
turn code limit at its highest level, 30, the
command SETCLOCK is executed with
its load option. The command sequence
attempts to load the system clock with the
time fi:tim the batteiy-backup clock. If the
clock is not there or the battery is too low,
the command SETCLOCK fails and re-
turns an enxjr level of 5. Upon seeing this,
the CLI compares this to the level 30 and
says "no big deal, keep going," The ">"
then redirects any messages to a logical
device called NIL:. Any message directed
to NIL: is not printed to the screen and
prevents the CLI window fiiom getting
cluttered with en-or messages. DATE dis-
plays the date and finally the command
ENDCLI is given. The CLI window disap-
pears, and any message generated by this
goes to NIL:. At this point Workbench is
on the screen and ready to use.

As you can see, a lot goes on during the
execution of the startup-sequence; this is
why there is a delay between the first
startup message and the conclusion of the

Continued on page 108

106 DECEMBER 1988

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Programming/Introducing Amiga CLI — The Games: Winter Edition

Continued from page 106
sequence. By incoiporating your own com-
mand sequences and sa\dng them using
ED, you can customize your startup-se-
quence so your Amiga will be configured
just the way you want it when you boot
up. For example, suppose you want a CLI
window to be open when the staitup-se-
quence is finished. All you have to do is
insert NEWCLI in the file after the
"Endc!i>NIL:" command. You could per-
sonalize your staitup-sequence using the
ECHO command by printing yom- own
messages in the startup-sequence file.
Bear in mind that the more you add to the
startup-sequence, the longer it will take to
execute.

It's useful to use the startup-sequence to
copy your favorite CLI commands to
RAM, so they will be there when you be-
gin a CLI session. Depending on what
model Amiga you have and how much
memory is available, you will experience
varying degrees of success here. An unex-
pended AlOOO isn't going to have a lot of
space for RAM, but an A2000 with a cou-
ple of megs of RAM will allow you to fit
the entire Workbench disk in memory. Tb
copy ' V commands to RAM, insert
"Makedir RAM:C" after "PATH RAM:
add" in the startup-sequence. Then copy
your most frequently-used commands us-
ing the COPY command. Foi- example,
COPY c: to RAM:c. You can then assign
the "c" director}' using the ASSIGN com-
mand like this: ASSIGN c: RAM:c. Then
every time AmigaDOS goes looking for a
CLI command, it will look at RAM and
not your Workbench disk. This can save
on disk swaps.

You may have a pair of applications you
want to multitask and have them share
the same chaj^acter font. You could modify
the startup-sequence on a custom Work-
bench disk to assign the logical device
FONTS: to a particular disk. Here you
would place "x^ssign SYS:fonts: to
dfl:fonts" in the staitup-sequence. Then
every time an application looks for a font
itwilllooktodfl;.

It's up to you to you decide what you
need from youi- staitup-sequence. If you'd
like to find out what other Amiga owners
are doing with their startup-sequences
you can find customized staiiup files on
public domain disks that do some fairly
clever things. Or you can check with your
local user group. I've heard that some
startup-sequences play digitized sounds or
speak gi-eetings to their ptx)gi-ammei-s us-
ing the SAY command. Collect 'em all!
Trade 'em with vour fiiendsl ra

Contin ued from page 20

Ski Jump

Ski Jump is an exciting event, by fai-
the game's best designed and executed.
This one is miles above similar competi-
tion found in Whiter Ga77ies.

Players are given three tiies to achieve
the greatest distance. The event begins
with a menacing view of the ramp tower,
yom" skier a mere dot on this imposing
structuit!. Starting down the ramp, the
view switches to an awesome 3D perspec-
tive. Use the joystick to crouch down (foi-
speed) and steer to the middle of the slope.
Far below, the crow waits.

The instant you see the end of the ramp,
press the fire button to jump, A split sec-
ond too late and you'll crash head first
into the snow. Hit it on the money and
you'll be soaring with the birds. The sen-
sation of flight is tremendous, aided by
top-notch graphics and sound effects.

Player perspective now returns to third
; person, allowing you to view your skier
j firom the side. Use the joystick to lean for-
I waixi or back and raise or lower youi'
i arms. Maintain a tight 45-degi'ee angle
for the best distance and style points. Hit
the joystick button in this stance to enter
the landing position. Gainful — any other
position and you'll only crash.

When everylhing comes together per-
fectly, this is the game's most satisfying
event.

In less creative hands, so
many variations on a single
theme would spell software
overkill.

Slalam

Enter this seemingly innocent event
and be prepared for a wild ride. WTiat
looks simple turns out to be one of the
toughest challenges ai^The Games.

A split screen allows one or two playere
to square off at a time. Two coui-se lengths
(350 and 400 km i and two difficult}' levels
are offei-ed. The object is to weave in and
out of a series of flags without hitting a
pole or the sides of the course. Pi'essing
the fire button increases your speed. The
racer with the fastest time wins.

Another rhythm method event, players
must utilize precise movements and strict
concentration to survive. The fi-ustration
factor runs high here — one mistake and
the game is over For this i-eason, go easy
on the fire button and don't hesitate for a

second. Confidence is an essential trait lor
slalam skiers.

Speed Skating

This one- or two-player event features
outstanding animation and rigorous play-
er intei'action. Break out the Epsom
salts — you'll need it alter competing here.

Piayere race one of four lengths on an
oval track, from a one-half lap quickie to
five arduous times around. Joystick con-
trol features a maddening veision of the
rhythm method that can easily lead to
frustration. Play ere must move the stick
left and right in perfect timing with the
skater's legs. A window graphic helps with
a close-up view of the skater

Pi'epai'e for a lot of falling down until
you master the right moves. Vertical skat-
ing on the comers offers the most trouble.
Watch youi" skater's left leg to capture the
con-ect rhythm. Five-lap races between
two skilled human competitois make this
the best head-to-head contest of the entire
game.

Downhill Skiing

This is another ambitious design that
almost — but not quite — works as intend-
ed. Once again, poor documentation
hindei-s the already obscure design.

One player at a time competes in this
fast-moving event. Competition begins by
placing fom- camci-as along the twisting
mountain coiu"se. The event featm"es an
increcfible first-pei-son 3D perepective on
the sti-aightaways, switching to a side-an-
gle view within range of the TV cameras.
When in h-ont of the camei'as, skiere ai'e
urged to show off by perfoiTning aerial
flips.

The pm-pose of downhill skiing is to
pass through vaiious "gates " and achieve
the fastest time. The action here moves
fast and furious — so much so that most of
your time will be spent tiying to slow
down. The 3D gi-aphics are spectacular,
but the gates are easily missed. Comei-s
are difficult to maneuver at slow speeds,
however And how many Olympic down-
hill racei-s do flips for the TV cameras?
Something's amiss here.

If you can find the balance between
speed and agility, Downhill Skiing has a
lot to offer

The Games: Winter Edition offers some
of the sharpest gi-apliics and imimation of
the entire Epyx series. Even experienced
competito!"s will find the play action men-
tally and physically uncompromising.
Some events may run hot and cold, but as
a whole, this is a solid addition to a grand
tradition. Q

108 DECEMBER 1988

Amiga Update/Amiga Public Domain

Conlinuvd from page 57

ShowANIM. (ShovvANIM doesn't even al-
low you to alter anything while the ani-
mation isplajing.l

Display's loop mode is superior to
ShowANIM's in that the pause between
loops is much smaller. Display will even
show an IFF picture (in overscan) if you
ask it to. Display not only has its own
icon, but it also comes with a file requester
for selecting which animation to run. This
means that you can now nm ANIM for-
mat animations from the Workbench!
Those who refuse to touch the CLI can
now finally view on their own PD anima-
tions from the likes of VideoScajx 3D and
Animator: Apprentice.

BlueMoon: by Tbny Vallot

(AmigaZone file #13049;

Shareware: amount not specified) |

A decent no-frills functional solitaire
card game in which you must align all
four suits from low to high.

King: by David Downing
(AmigaZone file #12762)

This is King's Komer, a solitaire game
written in compiled AmigaBASIC. Al-
though the graphics (for an AmigaBASIC
game) are quite nice, the game requires

virtually no strategy on the player's part.
Chance is what usually dictates whether
you will win or lose.

SayDate: by David Czaya

(AmigaZone file #13015)

A simple program that will tell you the
date (tut not the time.) via the Amiga's
speech capabilities.

Insane: by Ken Baer

(AmigaZone file #12742)

A fascinating variation on Leo Schwab's
The Dream Goes Berserk. Fully titled
"The Dream Goes Insane," this animation
was the result of Ken \ismg Animation:
Multiplane to add a blur effect to Leo's
original animation. If you could imagine
watching Leo's animation on a very long-
persistance monitor, that's what The
Dream Goes Insane looks like. Of course
The Dream Goes Insane requires one me-
gabyte of memory to run.

Intelsat: by M. Vines
(AmigaZone file #12853)

A VideoScape 3D animation of a satel-
lite orbiting a planet. Although this ani-
mation at first looks quite good for a nor-
mal VideoScape 3D animation, when you
realize that the author used HAM, it

doesn't seem to be very good at all. This
animation requires one megabyte.

MarilvTi: by Mitchell Hurst
(AmigaZone file #13331 1

An interesting animation of Marihn
Monroe giving a kiss through a window,
with color wallpaper serving as a border
for the animation. Mariljm was created
with Animation: Multiplane and Anima-
tion Stand from Hash Enterprises, and re-
quires one megabyte of memory to run.

As I was finishing this month's column
I received Fish disks 147 through 154, so I
will be talking about the contents of those
disks next month. As always, I can be
reached on the AmigaZone on PeopleLink
(ID: G KINSEY), or on the IDCMP BBS
(617) 769-3172 (300/1200/2400 baud, run-
ning 24 hours a day), addressed to SY-
SOP, If you have written a public domain/
shareware/freely distributable program,
or have obtained one that you think is
worth mentioning to all Amiga ownei-s,
then please attempt to contact me via the
above, or through Commodore Magazine.
See you next month.

lb sign up to PeopleLink and theu"

AmigaZone, call them at:

(800) 524-0100 (voice) m

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Programming/A Beginner's Guide to 1541/1571 Disk Files

Continued from page 101

fundamental underetanding of how to
work with the disk drive. Next we'll see
how to retrieve the data in our little file.

Reading a File

Ready? Let's muster up our courage and
go ask Hilda to give us back our file. Hil-
da may have her pei-sonality problems,
but once you learn to speak her lingo she's
a tireless worker.

Type NEW and press RETURN. The
rules for retrieving files and reading their
contents are not much different than for
writing them. Start by getting Hilda's atr
tention again.

10 OPEN 2,8,2,'TEST.R"

No new iides here. The only difference
between this hne 10 and the one for writ-
ing a file is the comma'R at the end which
has already been explained. It tells oui-
disk diive to read rather than write a file.

20 GET #2,AS

Type that in and then let's try running
the program to see what happens.

What happened? Well, for one thing,
the disk light is on— Hilda's ticked about
something. Something must be wi-ong.
Did you i-uin your disk? Did you ruin your
computer? Did you tap into the CIA's se-
cret files?

No, no, no. You simply forgot to tell
your disk drive that you were done with
the file. In a minute Fll tell you how to do
that. For now, let's see if we got any infor-
mation at all.

Type PRINT AS and press RETURN.
You will see a 'T' on the screen. Know
where that came fi"om? It's the first chai'-
acter in the file we saved. So we did get
something after all. But what about the
rest of the file? How do we get it . . . and
keep it?

We need to add this line:

30IFST=OTHEN20

Continuing with our Hilda metaphor
(bear with me, please), here's how it
works. We ask Hilda to give us our file, a
byte at a time (line 201. After she fetches
each byte, she calls over to the main office
and gets a fellow who goes by the initials
ST and whispers something to him. She
won't tell us directly so we have tn ask ST,
What's wrong? ST usually answere cheer-
fiJly, "Nothing." If STanswere "64" then
we know that Hilda didn't find any more
bytes. We've reached the end of our file.

What happens then? Well, line 30, an
ffiTHEN statement, is false so we fall
through to the end of the program.

What's going on here is that we are
checking a variable. ST, the computer

keeps track of Each time after requesting
data irom the disk drive ST is updated. If
it is a zero, everything's fine. If it's more
than zero, something's amiss.

Now let's try running our program
E^ain to see what happens.

Done? Okay, type PRINT AS again.
This time you'll see nothing on the screen.
TVy this: PRINT ASC IA$). Aha, a 13 ap-
pears. Does that ring a bell? It's a RE-
TURN. Remember, Hilda placed one at
the end of the file. This proves we've got-
ten all the characters in our file.

Just to show you everything is working
so far, add this temporary line:
25 PRINT A$;

Now run the program and you'll see our
text, "THIS IS A TEST" appear a charac-
ter at a time.

So everything's fine as far as getting the
data is concerned. Except that we can only
hang onto a byte at a time. We need a way
to preserve each item. There ai-e several
ways to do this. One way is to add A$ to
another string each time thiDugh the
loop. Like this: 25 B$ = B$ + A$

Now run the program and then type
PRINT B$. You'll see the text just as we
saved it.

Another way is to preserve the data is
to ase an array, lb do this you need to
DIM the an-ay fii-st at the top of the pro-
gram. Add these two lines:

5DIMA$(1000)
20GET#2A$(T):T=T+1
25

Note that we changed line 20 and de-
leted line 25. Now after ruiming the pro-
gram you can find out what each charac-
ter of the file was by printing AS(X) where
X equals whatever character you're look-
ing for. For example, if you want to know
what the third character was in the file,
simply type PRINT A$(3) and vou'll find
out (it'll be an 'T' in om- TEST file). If you
want to see all the characters, type:
FOR I - 1 TO TPRINT A$(I);:NEXT.

This array method is superior to the
previous one because it allows us to have
more than 255 characters. Also, it is easi-
er to deal with when we're looking for cer-
tain characters as is often the case when
converting files. More on that in the next
instalhnent of this series.

There's an even easier way to get our
text from the file. Type this:
20 INPUT#2,A$

Run the program and print A$ and
you'll see you got all the text at one fell
swoop. Thanks, Hilda. But why? Because

INPUT# grabs the chai-actei-s all the way
to the next RETURN. Since we just
opened the file, we grab ail of it up to the
RETURN Hilda inserted. Easy.

So if it's so easy, why not use INPUT#
all the time? Because it has limitations.

Tlie first limitation is that INPUT#
will also stop reading data after it spots a
comma, colon or period. If we had original-
ly placed this in our file: 'THIS IS A
TEST. HI MOM." INPUT* would stop at
the first period. HI MOM would be lost.

There's a way around this limitation. If
you want to grab stiings of characters
which may include punctuation marks,
you must save them with a quotation
mark at the beginning. For instance,
when we wTote this file we could' ve done it
hke this:

PRINT#2,CHR$(34)"THIS IS A TEST
HI MOM."

That CHR$(34) is nothing other than a
quotation mark. The reason we had tj'ped
it out this way instead of simply pressing
the quote key (SHIFT/2) is because we al-
ready ai^e using quotes to set off the mes-
sage we wish to send. That would've con-
fiased Hilda.

Another limitation of using INPUT# to
get data fi^om your disk is that it can only
get as many bytes as your computer's in-
put buffer will hold. On the 64 that's 88
charactere; on the 128 the buffer's maxi-
mum 8126 is 160 bjtes. This limitation
isn't usually a problem, but it can be.

Okay. All that's left to do is say goodbye
and thank you to Hilda. Type this line:

40 CLOSE 2

That wasn't bad. If we run the progi'am
again, the only change is that Hilda no
longer glares at us upon completion.

That's the end of pait one of our lesson.

You have just learned how to .save data
to disk in a sequential file. There are other
file types (like relative and user) but se-
quential files are the most common and
the easiest to learn.

At this point you may be ready to start
doing some programming making use of
your new knowledge. Or you might want
to muse over these things until next
month when we look at how to put our
knowledge of disk writing skills to good
use: to transfer files ftiom one form to an-
other, to write programs that access the
disk drive, and more.

Or maybe you'll get a late-night phone
call between now and then. Go ahead, an-
swer the phone. Even if everybody else
has gone home, Hilda's out there some-
where. And now you know how to give her
orders — politely. g

110 DECEMBER 1988

Projects/Sound Digitizer II

Continued from page 48

Sa RYR 5"7812"S",8:POKE 43,1
:POKE 44,l«5?:POKE 768,174

:POKF 769,lfi7:.SYS 470(73 , 1 ' GSRV
fin POKE 7R?,iq2;SYS 65493:SYS 42291

:LIST:POKE 44,S:POKE 768,139

:POKE 76q,22'7'HQVO
fi2 PRINT: PRINT"PRESS ANY KEY TO

RETURN TO MENU"'CBDN
64 GET KS:TF KR="" THEN 64'EHHK
66 GOTO 6'BRPT
6fl PRINT" rCLERR,D0WN21 LOADING ML

ROrJTINF. . . " 'BAHQ
"Jt* FOR X=4S64 TO 516B:READ A:POKE X,A

:T=T+A:NEXT' lUVM
12 IP TOTRSfin THEN PRINT"ERROR IN

DATA STATEMENTS" : END' GHAQ
74 GOTO 6'BBPH
76 DATA 12PI,W32, WPf4, 020, M24, 074,074,

074'BGHP
7fi DATA 074,172,000,020,234,234,234,

1 4^'BGOR

81^ DATA 253,169,000,234,234,234,032,

0f4 'BGQK
92 DATA 020,172,000,020,234,234,234,

041 'BGAM
a4 DATA 240, 017, 2S^, 145, 253, 169, 000,

?34'BGXO
Rfi DATA 234,2^4,200,140,000,020,192,

255'BGFQ
88 DATA 2(78,019,160,000,140,000,020,

?3 0'BG.S.S
90 DATA 254, 165, 254, 201, ]48, 208, 006,

1 69 'RGLL
92 DATA 022,133,254,088,096,162,001,

202'BGVN
94 DATA 208,253,076,001,019,120,172,

00 0'BGLP
qfi DATA 020,2^4,2^4,234,177,253,234,

7"^^' BGBR
98 DATA 234,041,015,024,141,024,212,

03 2'BGCT
100 DATA 033,020,172,000,020,234,234,

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000'BGIG
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Attention
Programmers

Have you written a program ttiot you would like to
share wltti ottiers — and make a little money
while you're at it?

Commodore Magazine

is now accepting
quality programs.

• A BASIC routine for handling a difficult problem

• A project that uses the Commodore 64, 128 or
Amiga

• A game ttiat is sure to win over the world

• A utility for helping with mundane chores

• A machine language routine to moke programming
easier

Send for your Guidelines for Writers
today!

Commodore Magazine,

1200 Wilson Drive, Wesf Ctiesler, PA 19380
ATTN: Guidelines for Wrifers

COMMODORE MAGAZINE 111

Software Reviews /Dragon's Lair

Conlinued [ram page 30
sion of true, smooth movement for slow,
staggering jumps around the play field.
Now I know this program, with its bulk
and variety of challenges, packs plentj' of
play into this adventui^e, and the uneven
animation is only an occasional occui--
rence. But any lack of fluidit>' can be an
unwanted handicap in a contest that re-
quires so many timed, piiecise maneuvers.

64 and 128 Software Reviews/ Force 7— Pumping GEOS/GEOS 2.0"

Seventeen different tests of
strength, dexterity and
perseverance have been
devised, each presented as a
distinct arcade game within
the game.

Aside from this problem, the only other
foreseeable complaint might stem from an
unusual play element found in the origi-
nal game. When working your way
through the tail's challenges that are
looking for a specific joystick tug or pull,
youi' suiTOgate will only react when the
correct controller input is made, lb em-
phasize, NO chai'acter movement will be
made if you don't make the requii^ed joy-
stick response. Players who trj' to initiate
an incorrect on-screen move will often
misinterpret the absence of action as a
program flaw, screaming that they tried to
avoid the danger, but their Dirk didn't
react. 'lb the newcomer, it can be a frus-
trating situation. But as stated eaiiier,
this designed controller quirk is found in
the \'ideodisc vereion of the game as well.
Software Projects htts meivly carried this
aspect over to the home adaptation. Like
it or not, it's an accurate translation in an
attempt to remain true to the original
contest.

Like many arcade 'adventures. Dragon's
Lair is not for eveiybody. Its ai-cade foun-
dation is apt to turn off those adventui-ers
who like the more sti-ategic cerebral test,
and its tough untbrgiving play will leave
many of the younger or less tenacious joy-
stick jockeys on the wayside. But for those
of you who enjoyed the coin-op— especially
those like myself who loved the challenge
but had neither the time nor cash to follow
through and save Daphne— this is an en-
joyable, satisfying contest that makes a
sincere, ambitious and ultimately success-
ful attempt at reuniting us with an old
friend. ra

Continued from page 22

similar to the stairing nasties in the
aforementioned film, these walking night-
mares can rise out of the floor and spring
into an attack at any given moment. They
are quick, agile and incredibly strong. It
will take neaiiy a half dozen well-placed
blasts to bring one down.

But don't despair, this is not a one-sided
match. The crew that you will di-op into
this dastai-dly labyiinth ai-e a competent
lot of gung-ho soldiers. The skills and
equipment that each surrogate has been
outfitted with are widely varied, gi\ing
you a full complement of highly talented
professional fighters armed with the most
advanced weapons available. Since only
one soldier can explore at a time, the dele-
gation of duties becomes the strategic key.
Each person excels in a defined area, and
must be called upon at the right time to
demonstrate his expertise. If you don't as-
sess the situation and assign duties cor-
rectly, then this will undoubtedly be an
abbreviated mission.

lb aid you in your cause, at the base of
the play field is an Information Panel, a
narrow ship designed to provide a con-
stant update of the players' vitals. Color
coding helps you to quickly locate and
read any specifics that might h»e needed.
lb the right of this Panel is a Motion De-
tector, a radar device which will flash to
warn you whenever an Alien Leadei- is
about to attack.

The rest of the play screen provides a
three-quarter overhead perspective of the
plant floor on which your crew member is
currently searching. The graphics are
colorful, crisp and exacting. Each creatui'e
has its own distinct look and move, with
Alien Leaders actually grimacing before
they wriggle to the floor to die. Every
room is filled with an assortment of de-
tailed furnishings. Tables, chairs, traps,
food and ammunition are just some of the
obstacles and goodies to be avoided or
gathered during the rescue. A deep,
rhythmic musical backdrop plays
throughout the contest, providing a pulse-
quickening instrumental that is ever
present without being annoying. It's an
effective, subtle audio touch.

With Force 7, DataSoft epitomizes the
action-strategy genre by offering a high-
speed shoot-"em-up that requires plenty of
tactical planning. Many of the nuances
and strategic possibilities will only be
discovered with repeat plays. That adds
up to staying power, the earmark of eveiy
quality program. Don't miss it.

Let the Force be with you. g

Conlinued from page 96
Fm told. I realize that an eight-bit ma-
chine isn't ever going to behave like a 16-
bitten But there are a few things afciout
GEOS and its family of products that I bet
could be sped up with some programming
changes.

For instance, when you delete a line on
the screen in geoWrite, you must wait for
the entire screen to rewrite itself Why
couldn't a block memory move be done to
hoist everything up a notch? (I can hear
the engineers already: "Okay, Mr. Know-
it-all, come on down and start hoisting.")
Ch: couldn't geoPamt let users jump a
drawing-window at a time around the
screen instead of the inexact and slow pro-
cesses now available?

And here's a really big idea I've been
kicking around: is there any way that
GEOS could be put into a cartridge or a
replaceable ROM chip? Or maybe some-
how included with the RAM expander?
I'm out of my league now because I don't
know much about hardware, but I do
know this: if there were a way to have
GEOS always pop up when you turned on
your computer, people would start using it
a lot.

GEOS is an evolving product
and Berkeley Softworks is a
company that listens to the
user community. GEOS 2.0
is proof of that.

Maybe these ideas would be difficult to
; implement. Maybe they'd be easy GEOS
is an evolving product and Berkeley
Softworks is a company that listens to the
user community. GEOS 2.0 is proof of
that.

So, should you buy it? If you're a non-
owner of GEOS I are there any out there?)
and your main reason for having a Com-
modore computer is for games, the answer
is no. Well, let me qualify that: no, unless
you have some interest in creating some
fancy letters, reports or other documents.
Then the answer is, yes, buy GEOS 2.0.
The "Pumping GEOS" documents that 1
include with these columns are examples
of some of the fiui you can have with
GEOS.

As for the rest of you, if you've read this
far in a GEOS column, you must be a
GEOS user and if you're that, then you
better become a GEOS 2.0 user GEOS 2.0
passes the supreme pan pizza test. g

112 DECEMBER 1988

Coming Attractions

Ciniiriiiri/ /'mm pafff 95

Amiga: Hole in One Miniature Golf, slated
to ship in September, is absolutely fantas-
tic. The progi-am contains a number of
traditional holes (like the windmill, for ex-
ample) and complicated 3D challenges
(like the underwater hole and the castle
hole) that make you think in a different
manner. Up to four people can play, you
can print out youi* score cai'ds, and the
program contains two difficulty levels
(normal and expertl. Hvle in One Minia-
ture Go//" features a simple user interface,
extremely coloi"ful graphics, realistic
sounds, excellent animation, and four 18-
hole coui-ses to m;ister. This is definitely
one of the better Amiga games I've seen
this year. F'our additional course diskettes
(with t^vo to thi-ee com-ses per disk) will
also hit the market in the near' fiiture,

Digilfek's Poiverstyx program seems
like a sophisticated version of the QuLx ar-
cade game, The object is to gi'adually re-
veal a picture that has been hidden be-
hind a screen. This unusual sti'ategy
game challenges you to cut out pieces of
that screen, as opposing characters trj" to
stop you. If you cai-ve out a paiticular
area, that portio'i of the picture is re-
vealed for all to see. Whenever 75% of the
display has been unveiled, you progress to
the next level of play. There is another
way to advance in the game. Grab all the
letters on the screen to spell out a word
that has something to do with the picture.
Coming in 1989: Amiga and 64 consumers
are in for a big surprise around the first of
the year. Terrorists have taken over a
North Sea oil platform, killing several of
its workers and holding the rest hostage.
You become a member of an elite com-
mando team that's been brought together
to tackle this problem. North Sea Inferno
is the most inci^Klible program I've seen in
a long time. Its graphics are super realis-
tic, and the digitized sounds ai-e unbeliev-
able. You also become addicted to sounds
of machine gun fire, the familiar roai- of
choppers, realistic explosions, and the fuiy
of a storm at sea. I'd like to go on record as
saying North Sea Inferno is destined to be-
come one of the hottest-selling products of
1989.

The Persian Gulf Conflict (for the
Amiga) will appear on the mai'ket late in
the first quarter You ai-e the captain of a
Navy destroyer in this authentic simula-
tion of the Pereian Gulf conflict. George
Johnson, president of DigiTek, tells me
you will escort, neutral tankers, destroy
enemy mines and keep an eye on air ti'af-
fic and surface vessels in his area. I've

heai-d rumore you nught have to deal with
Silkworm Missiles and even a civilian air-
liner in the game. Whatever the case, the
Persian Gulf is a popular subject these
days, and this progi-am has a lot of poten-
tial.

First Row Software

(>}/128: What can I say about The Tivilighi
Zone: Crossroads of Imagination? The
product is an interactive graphic adven-
ture, with over 35 colorful gi-aphic dis-
plays. The story begins as you wake up
one morning and hear a peculiar noise
outside. You go to the door and look out-
side. Everything appeal's to be normal,
but as your character walks aixiund towTi,
thin^ ai-en't as they seem. The I'est is up
to you.

Amiga: A second Twilight Zone graphic
adventure, titled By The Book, will be ap-
pearing on the market late in the year In
this program, you assume the role of a
mystery writer who never finishes a novel.
In fact, you've worked on three or four
books to date, but you can't seem to write
the final chapters. All of a sudden, you're
sucked into a literal^' universe where you
must solve these mysteries before retum-
mg to the real world. By The Book also
contains an even greater mystery to solve,
but ril let you find it on your own. After
all, no one gets help in The Twilight Zone.
(See box on Honeymooners on page 94.)

Gamestar

<>1/12S: How- would you like to jump into
the ring and take the smirk off the face of
one of those hot-shot wrestlers? Gamestar
grants this request in Take Down, their
new Commodore 64 wTestling simulation.
Players mbs elbows with eight rowdy
wrestlere, as they participate in authentic
tag team action. You determine the

If a knight takes an opposing
pawn, you see the bold
knight (armored and ready
for action) sally forth to '
the enemy foot soldier.
(Battle Chess)

matches, select your own partner, and
then jump into the "squared circle," Per-
foiTn body slams, atomic dix)ps, pile diiv-
ers, airplane spins and suplexes in the
game, or leap off the rope for a big splash.
Take Down also contains: single and dou-
ble modes of play, hot graphics and inter-

esting sounds. Take Down is softwaie
wrestling at its best. You can battle your
way to the top of the Gamestar Wrestling
Federation starting in September.

(See box on Pete Rose Pennant Fever on
page 92.)

Interplay Productions

&t/128: A century ^m now, hacking can
get you killed. Neuromaneer, adapted
from the William Gibson sci-fi novel of the
same name challenges you to explore 35
different databases and 25 futuristic real
world locations. Hack your way through
the infinite regions of cyber space, but
watch out for ICE. It can put an end your
quest very quickly. The program also fea-
tures a digitized original soundtrack by
Devo. Neuromancer is scheduled to hit the
market in October.

Amiga: It's one thing to convert a popular
board game to the home computer envi-
ronment, but Battle Chess is more than
just an attractive chess program. The
game features an excellent chess logic sys-
tem, colorfid character graphics, incredi-
bly fluid 3D animation, and a vaiiety of
digitized sound effects. As you play Battle
Chess, each move is graphically acted out
on the screen. If a knight takes an oppos-
ing pa\vn, for example, you see the bold
knight (armored and ready for action) sal-
ly forth to kill the enemy foot soldier. The
program also contains ten levels of diffi-
culty, remote play capability (where you
can play the game with a modem), and a
library of 30,000 opening moves, hi the
past. Interplay Pniductions has created
Bard's Tale I and //, two of the hottest role-
playing games to hit the market in recent
years. I firmly believe Battle Chess is their
next software classic.

Intracorp, Inc.

(>I/12S and Amiga: Have you ever wanted
to visit TYump Castle in Atlantic City? In-
tracorp thought it would be great to make
a TVump Castle home computer simula-
tion, where everyone could play casino
games and participate in all the ftin and
excitement. The program (with the work-
ing title "Trump Castle" i contains slot
machines, video poker, a craps table,
blackjack, keno and a roulette wheel.
Ijook for this new Commodore 64 or
Amiga gambling program sometime
late in the fall.

For nearly three-quarters of a century,
people have talked about the mysteries of
the Titanic (the luxury liner that report-
edly struck an iceberg and sank in 1912).
History chronicles the events of that terri-
ble evening, but it took a man like Robert

COMMODORE MAGAZINE 1 13

Joming Attractions

D. Ballard (of the Woods Hole Oceanogra-
phic Institution) to locate the remains of
the Titanic and tiy to set the story
straight.

By the end of the year. Commodore 64
owners will be able to assume the role of
Robert Ballai'd and search for the legend-
ary vessel in a new program with the
working title 'Titanic." (An Amiga ver-
sion is also in the works — no release date
was available at press time, i As the game
begins, you play a shipm^eck archaeolo-
gist fi'esh out of college. You must gain a
reputation by locating and exploring oth-
er sunken ships before you can get the
necessaiT funding to start the seaixih for
the Titanic. Obtaining the right search
vessel for a particular expedition can also
be a problem. You can rent, buy or borrow
a ship, but it pays to know what you're
getting in the deal. Once you have your
boat, it's time to buy equipment, select a
crew, and purchase the necessary pn)vi-
sions. The long list of equipment includes
weather radai; sonai; deep sonar, sonar/
camera platfontis, a magnetometer, navi-
gational radios and even bathyscaphes
and minisubs (that can be used with larg-
er vessels I. E\'ery ship comes with an ex-
perienced captain and na\igator on board,
so you can concentrate on selecting the
proper crewTnen needed to perfoiTn a par-
ticular assignment. There aix' about 30
people in the game to choose from, includ-
ing doctors, divers, a crane operator, a sea-
level operations tech, etc. You also have to
purchase provisions foi' the entire crew
and enough fijel to successfully complete
the mission.

Located almost two miles dovra, the re-
mains of the Titanic are almost impossible
to reach ( let alone explore). Activate your
minisubs on-board cameras to get a good
look at things in general, and use the
tethered robot camera platfoim to photo-
graph objects at close range. Your long-
tenn goal in this unusual simulation is to
recover (fictional! diamonds fiiom one of
three safes scattered around the ocean
floor. The Titanic progi-am also contains
digitized pictures of what the Ballard
team saw, numerous objects waiting to be
discovered, navigational problems to
solve, and the opportunity' to take control
of minisubs and bathyscaphes.

Konami

64/128: Konami, a 20-year veteran of the
arcade game revolution, is cuiTentiy tak-
ing their best coin-op titles and porting
them over to a number of different micro-
computers (including the 64 and Amiga

Pete Rose Pennant Fever

Conlin!ie<l from page 92

114 DECEMBER 1988

"I try to teach my players to
think positive, practice
positive and play positive."

ally patterned after major league stai-s,
but because of licensing problems, we
couldn't use their names. Pete Rose ap-
pears in the progi-am. Pete helped us en-
hance the logic of his computerized coun-
terpart, so it reacts to a situation the same
way he would in real life. Even though
Pennant Fever focuses on action and
graphics, there are also elements of coach-
ing, management and general manage-
ment in the pi"ogram.
Jermaine: Pete, what do you like about
Pennant Fever?

Rose: First of all, I think the game will
help youngsters to become more Hmda-
mentally sound baseball playei"s in real
life. There's a right way and a wi-ong way
to play the game. It took me 25 years to
leara the ins and outs of the sport. Pen-
nant Fever will teach kids (at an early
age) the way the "big boys" do things, so

systems). Some original material will also
be coming your way.

Ajax, a sophisticated helicopter game,
was slated for release in November. The
program features an intense aerial com-
bat scenario, which challenges the user to
battle tanks, ships, jet fighters, aircrafl
carriers and even other coptei-s. Saving
the world is a tough job, but somebody's
got to do it.

I n7ac/f5/ several of your
comrades have been
captured and are being held
as prisoners behind enemy
lines.

Life Force, another November release,
is the sequel to the popular Gradius ar-
cade game. Before the action takes place,
Zelos (a huge planet-eating alien) con-
sumes the worids of Gradius and Latis.
The civilizations of these planets are
doomed unless you can fight your way
through six terror zones within the mon-
ster. Each zone contains a number of
threats to your health, including deadly
fire creatures, lava-spewing volcanoes and

theyll git)w up to become better baseball
players overall.

The pitching part of the program also
looks pretty good. Any time you can call a
fast ball or a change-up or a sciiew ball or
a cun'e ball, that's pretty realistic. That's
the way we do it at Candlestick Pai-k or
Riverftx)nt Stadiimi or Shea Stadium. The
game also gives the player realistic views
of what he should be seeing. I know the
ball, for example, comes off the bat to-
wards a center-fielder differently than it
does for a left-fielder, and differently than
it does for the right-fielder. It's little things
like these that make the game realistic
and just like playing big league baseball.
Jermaine: How do you feel about having
your name on a computer game?
Rose: I think having mj' name on some-
thing that's fun is great. It's something
my son and I can enjoy together and other
kids can enjoy. I tiy to teach my players to
think positive, practice positive and play
positive. I think it's very important to get
youn^ters to learn to be competitive, to
learn to play the right way, and to play
the positive way. You don't have to be on
the dean's list or be a computer whiz to
play Pennant Fever, and you have just as
much fun as if you're in the ball park, g

the dreaded Death Hand. When it comes
to armaments, your star fighter is
equipped with the latest ripple lasers, plu-
tonic missiles and force fields. In the two-
player mode, users work together to de-
feat this colossal menace. If you like a lot
of action in your games. Life Force is the
product to buy

In November, you can sign up for oper-
ation Jackal. Several of your comrades
have been captured and are being held as
prisoners behind enemy lines. Someone
I has to rescue them, so you volunteer for
' the mission. The assignment is really very
simple. An elite group of soldiers will re-
lease the captives and whisk them off to
helipads in the army's new aJl-terrain at-
tack jeeps. These special jeeps cany an ar-
senal of guided missiles and an incendiary '
grenade launcher as standard equipment
which makes them superior to most mili-
tar>- vehicles. Once the prisoners are safe,
it's time to knock out the enemy head-
quarters. As arcade games go. Jackal is
an incredible militarv" operation, which
will hold your attention for quite a while.

Speaking of the military, Metal Gear
m\\ be shipping late in the fourth quarter
Colonel Vermon CaTkffy (the radical lead-
er of a foreign ai-my ) has activated Metal
Gear, the ultimate weapon of destruction.

Coming Attractions

It's your job to locate this threat to world
peace and destroy it. The player, an expert
in hand-to-hand combat, can also pick up
a number of weapons and useful objects
along the way. These include: a bomb
blast suit, body armor, mines, a gas mask,
plastic explosives, an antidote to poisons,
a semi-automatic submachine gun, etc. A
transceiver lets the user communicate
with the "Big Boss," who can give him
special instructions or the locations of cer-
tain objects. Metal Gear is an excellent
program with good graphics and sounds.
Amiga: Contra (a spectaculai- 64 product)
should be in the hands of Amiga users by
late November You must defeat Red Fal-
con, the most vicious warrior in the gal-
axy, or the Earth will cease to exist. This
private little war takes place in the jun-
gles of the Amazon Basin, where the play-
er can pick up numerous weapons ( finm
ultra-mcxleiT! lasers to rapid-fu-e machine
guns). Fight your way through complicat-
ed mazes, underground security systems
and dangerous tropical rain forests. The
disk also contains a two-player game,
which challenges the users to work to-
gether to defeat this enemy of the human
race. Certain elements of Contra may
seem familiar, but I believe most consum-
ers will really enjoy the thrill of the hunt
(and being hunted) by this unearthly
"Predator"

An Amiga version oi Jackal is also
scheduled to ship in November, while
Ajax will hit the market sometime Ijefore
the end of the year.
Coming in 1989: Atten-s/iun!!! At ease,

Silent Software

Continued from page 93

people to generate true animation in a
huny, without having to draw things out
on paper a thousand times or more. Onion
is also DeluxePaint-compa.tMe and very
easy to use.

Jermaine: Why do you call your new pro-
gram "Onion'?

Von Wolfshield: I could have called it
"Pencil Tfest," but I chose the name "On-
ion" because it reminds me of onion paper.
.lermaine: How powerftil is Onion?
Von Wolfshield: I can illustrate that point
by telling you a httle story about Rusty
Mills. Mills, a professional animator, has
worked on some very impressive projects
over the last few years: Don Bluth's An
American Tail. Disney's Sports Goofy Soc-
cermania, Filmation's Pinocchio and the

men! During the month of Januaiy, Boot
Camp will be open for business. This real-
istic military training facility dares you to
master a numbei' of gruelling challenges
(including an obstacle course, several dif-
ferent firing ranges, arm wrestling comjx?-
tition and others). The player gradually
advances to the rank of captain and earns
the respect of his superiors. Keep an eye
on this product; it promises to be one of
the better ones of the year.

Castlei-ania is finally being ported over
to the home computer environment. Tliis
original Nintendo title has a loyal follow-
ing, and Konami believes it will have the
same affect on micro game players. The
user has to fight ghosts, goblins, wolves,
demons and bats (who are all out for
blood). If that isn't enough, Count Dracula
can't wait to sink his fangs into your jugu-
lar. The game comes to an end when you
destroy the evil count and put his legion
to rest. Amiga owners am play Ciistle-
mnia later this spring, while 64 consum-
ers will see the progicun in early summer

What do the names Leonaitlo, Michae-
langelo, Donatello and Raphael mean to
you'.' No, they're not members of a new
British rock group. These are the famous
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, who have
their own Saturday morning cartoon show
and a popular monthly comic book. In the
game, our heroes on a half shell have to
defeat carnivorous robots in Chinatown
and the savage "Foot" clan Ninjitsu War-
riors (who are running amok in downto\\'n
New York I. Your team has access to wacko
bombs, nunchukas, an armed blimp, and
a machine gunnin' party bus. The Nin-

Emperor of the Night, and the list goes on
and on. Rusty had never used a home
computer for animation, and the first sys-
tem he saw artwork on was the Amiga (at
Eric Daniels' house). Eric was working
with Onion at the time, so he let Rusty
play around with it for a while. Believe it
or not, Rustj' is currently using the pro-
gram to produce a cartoon for tele\'ision.

Onion allows you to save out animation
under three different formats. First of all,
we have IFF format. It records the graphic
data, the number of bit planes, how many
colors are involved, etc. This fonnat per-
mits you to save out indi\idual pictures in
a few seconds. ANIM (another interesting
format) stores the first picture of a se-
quence on disk, examines the second one,
saves out the differences, and continues
the operation until the job is done. I really
like this method of doing things because

jitsu Warriors carry nunchukas, swords
and other deadlj' weapons. Be careful
when you face these powei-ful foes, or you
might end up as turtle soup. Teenage Mu-
tant Ninja 'Turtles, for both the 64 and
Amiga computers, will be coming your
way later this spring.

Microlllusions

Amiga: As you read this, Music-X should

already be on the market. This unique
product was designed for the serious musi-
cian, as well as the person who just wants

I to make music on the computer I don't
know much about music software, but

I Music-X's long list of features looks pretty
impressive. (See box on page 95 . i

' Early in 1989, The

: Flintstones, Johnny Quest,

and TheJetsonswW be
' coming to an Amiga or

Commodore 64 near you.

I Early in the fourth qututer, an Amiga
translation of S/f>' Travel — called The

, Planetarium — will be coming your way.
This classic Commodore 64 astronomy

I program has been completely overhauled.
It now contains more stars and all of the
current NASA codes. The user interface is
also easier to operate.
Watch for Dungeon Construction Set

\ late in the year. You can use DCS to cre-
ate your own dungeons, monsters, etc. You

, may also be able to take dungeons made

when minimal changes are occurring in
the picture, you end up saving verj- little.
Finally we come to oui" special format.
It allows us to compress and decompress
code in real time on the computer. Onion
also contains a unique playback routine,
which allows you to watch the animated
sequence at a certain frame rate on the
screen. The program is preset to run
things at one, two, 12, 15, 24, or even 30
frames per second guaranteed. But any
frame rate can be set in Onion to make it
easy for the guy who has to convert this
type of material to video, where every-
thing has to be properly timed. Running
the program on an Amiga 512K machine,
you can store from half a minute to a Ml
minute of animation at a time. By the
way, we're presently working with profes-
sional animators to add new features to
the program that I'm sure you'll enjoy

COf^MODORE MAGAZ[NE 115

Coming Attractions

Representatives of the U.S.
Air Force are currently
examining Fa/co/? as a
possible low-cost flight
trainer for their pilots.

with this pixxiuct and interface them with
software that is cuiTently under develop-
ment.

Coining in 1989: The Shrine of the Demon
Soul, an Indiana Jones-tj'pe program
scheduled for an eai'ly '89 release, chal-
lenges you to perform a number of inter-
esting tasks. This is a fast-moving arcade-
style game, in which \'ou have to destroy
terrible demons and rescue people.

Faery Tale II will be available for the
Amiga sometime next year. It will be a lot
larger than the original pragi-am (which
contains over 19,000 screensl.

There are also Hanna-Barbera projects
in the works. Early in 1989, The Flint-
stones and Johnny Quest will be coming to
a Commodore 64 near you. And The Jet-
sons will be available for the Amiga. Oth-
er Hanna-Barbera software projects ai-e
planned, so stay tuned for fijture an-
nouncements.

Sierra On-Line

Coming in 1989: Sierra On-Line has a

number of superior Amiga projects slated
for release in the first quailer. King's
Quest N—The Perils ofRosella, chal-
lenges you, as Rosella, to undertake a per-
ilous journey to save the life of youi- ailing
father, the king. Your mission becomes a
number of quests, in which you must dis-
cover the mysteries of a strange land, deal
with its hostile inhabitants, and return
home to save your father The progi'am
features fantastic 3D gi-aphics, colorfijl de-
tailed figures, excellent sounds and a
fabulous soundtrack. By the way, the
soundtrack was mitten by William Gold-
stein (who wrote the music for the Fame
television series), King's Quest TV is al-
most like watching a full-length animated
cartoon, so don't forget to move the joy-
stick every now and then.

Manhunter: New York, written by the
authors of The Ancient Art of War, takes
software in a totally new direction. The
program is a tale of horror and suspense
set in a large city approximately two
years afl«r an alien invasion. The game is
unique in that you stajt out being the bad
guy You're basically a spy for the other

116 DECEMBER 1988

side, monitoring human activity in the
city. If you detect a plot against the aliens,
you identify the individuals, and report
them to your alien masters. As you pro-
gress you discover the true identity of the
aliens and what they're planning to ac-
complish. You then have to make the su-
preme decision: should you continue serv-
ing the aliens or help the underground
overthrow them? Manhunter: New York
contains excellent colorful gi^aphics, ad-
, vanced windowing effects, split-screen ani-
. mation, close-ups and overhead views of
; certain scenes. The program is a daring
' new software approach, that ( as of this
writing) has no competition.

Other scheduled relejises include: Space
Quest III, Leisure Suit Lam- II, Police
Quest II, and Gold Rush! Robeila Wil-
liams is presently working on a classic
munier mystery that takes place on a
southern plantation. She also wants to do
another program for children next year
That pi-oduct will deal with American
myths and legends (including Pecos Bill,
Johnny Appleseed, Paul Buny^m and
many others).

Spectrum HoloByte

(>1/128: PT-lOy. an amazing pati-ol boat
simulation, is scheduled for September re-

If you're a history buff,
Pf-i(99 allows you to
perform 45 missions typical
of the period.

lease. This authentic re-creation of W\\TI
PT boat operations is top-notch. You have
to deal vrith enemy submarines and air-

The Honeymooners

CiiiiUmiL'd from /xi^'i' .^if

throughout the Amiga version of the prxxi-
uct. When Ed Norton appears on the bus,
for example, you hear Ait Camy's voice
saying "Hey there, Ralphie Boy." There
are approximately 20 other phrases in the
program including 'To the moon!" and
"I've got a big mouth." There are 50
spaces between New York and Miami
Beach, and once you've reached your goal.
the game is over. I like to think of this pro-
ject as a tribute to good old-fashioned fam-
ily entertainment and the genius of the
late Jackie Gleason.

Howard Berk: The Honeynwoners charac- ,
ters were supposedly based on real people
finm Jackie Gleason's old neighborhood in
BrookljTi. Many years ago, when the show
was in production, some company offered

craft, as you seaix:h lor battleships and
other mighty vessels. If you're a historv'
buff, PT-109 allows you to perfomi 45 mis-
sions typical of the period. These assign-
ments can be day or night scenarios, and
the more difficult ones simulate the eaiiy
days of the war (when the lightly-armored
craft didn't always carry what it took to
get home). Your armaments include: tor-
pedos, cannon, submachine guns, depth
charges, etc. By the way. light nx;kets
were actually used late in the war to ptti-
tect the boats torn air strikes. You will
also find them in certain game scenarios.
The program also contains: foiu" ai"eas of
action (New Guinea, Phillipine Islands,
Solomon Islands and the Mediterranean
Sea), four 90-degree views, detailed dam-
age reports, map displays, conti-ol panels
and gauges, the abilitj' to see thin^
through binoculars, and the option to save
a game in progress. You can even perfoim
the same heroic mission in the Solomon
Islands that made an unknown skipper
named John F. Kennedy famous. PT-109
contains incredible graphics, great sounds
and historicjil authenticity.
.^raiga: If you think Tetris on the 64 is a
great game, wait until you see the Amiga
translation. Tetris (in case you ha\'en't
heaixl) is the first Russian micixKomputer
game to be sold in western mai'keta. This
unusual strategy progi-am challenges you
to put together pieces of a jigsaw puzzle,
which can eventually fill in a work ai-ea.
You take a variety of different shapes (as
they drop fi-om the top of the screen), i-o-
tate them, and tiy to put them together to
form solid hoiizontal lines in the work
area. W^en these lines are fonned, you
earn bonus points, and that line of materi-
al is removed from the picture. Tetris con-

"I like to think of this project
as a tribute to good old-
fashioned family
entertainment and the
genius of the late Jackie
Gleason." (Honeymooners)

Gleason money to put one of their refiig- i
erators in Ralph's apartment. He said no I
because the Kraradens would never own a
refrigerator They would always have an
ice box in their apartment. This story il-
lustrates the fact that Gleason worked
hard to keep everything true to character, i

Coming Attractions

tains randomly-generated shapes, a spe-
cial preview window i which allows you to
look at the next piece that will falli, a su-
per music soundtrack, and ten levels of
difficulty. Everything has been revamped
for this new version of the game, so expect
to see some major changes. Keep an eye
out for Tetris late in the third quarter.

Strate^c Simulations, Inc.

61/128: Typhoon of Steel, the sequel to
Panzer Strike!, is scheduled to ship early
in the fourth quarter. There are three
fixmts in the game to choose fk)m: Europe
(Americans vs. Germans), Pacific (Ameri-
cans vs. Japanese), and Asia (British vs.
Japanese). The program also features spe-
cial rules covering banzai charges, flame
thrower attacks and naval support. When
it comes to producing an authentic World
War n battlefield simulation, SSI has
done it again with Typhoon of Steel.

During the final days of October, soft-
ware pilots can join the first bomber gixjup
(to strike deep in the heart of Nazi-occu-
pied Europe) in First Over Germany. This
B-17 flight simulator contains eight inter-
esting training missions and approxi-
mately 25 difficult combat assignments.

Real-time flight elements, like the gunner
shooting at incoming enemy aircraft, can
also be found in the game. I like this type
of program becaase it re-creates a unique
real-life experience that few people can
teil us about today.

Amiga: Fakon, a sophisticated flight sim-
ulator, will be taking off in November The
program puts you in the cockpit of an
F-16A fighter, where you learn to fly the
craft like a pro. Approximately 20 man-
year's have gone into the development of
the game (for the i\IS DOS systems), and
F-16 pilots actually contributed to the pro-
duct design. Falcon featm-es an authentic
F-16 cockpit design, a black box option
(which i-ecords a particulai- flight for later
evaluation), 12 typical F-16 missions and
nine levels of difficulty. A number of me-
dals can be earned along the way. Fakon
is also especially user friendly. In the low
est difficultj' level, for example, the new
pilot can learn to fly the plane without
being shot down or crashing under nonnal
circumstances. As you become familial'
with the contitils, you can pi-ogress to more
complicated scenarios. The program docu-
mentation is extensive. It contains about
300 pictures and diagrams, and eveiy-
thing is written in simple language. One

.\ctKi.vion

3885 Itoliamiun Drive
Menlo Hark, CA 94025
1415) 329-0500

t'apcum U.S.A.. Inc.

128,'J-C MounUun View/Alviso Road

Suniiyviile. CA 94039

i408i 74.T.7081

Cincniiiwan' Corporation
4165 Thousand Oaks BK-d.
VVestlakc Village. CA 91362
tg06i 495-6515

Data East

470 Needles Drive

San Jose, CA 95112

14081286-7074

DiKiTek

104 W. Senwa

Suite 4

TainD;i.FL:«612

(8131 93;3-8023

Companies Mentioned
in Coming Attractions

First Kow Soflwan;
3624 Marlict St.
Philadelpliia, PA 19406
(215)662-1400

GaiiHstar

see Acli^Haion

Intctplav Productions

see Artinsion

Intracnrp, inc.
UltiOSW 139th Court
Miami, FL;ai86
(80OI 468-7226

Komuni

815 Mitile Drive
Wood Dalf.IL 60191
(3121 59.5-144.3

.Micmlltusiuns

17408 Chateworth Street

P.O. Box:3475

Granada Hills. CA 91344

(800> 522-2041

(8181,360-3715

-Sierra On-ljne

Sierra On-Lme Building

P.0.li3x4«5

Coaisegold, CA 93614

12091683-6858

Silent Software
'06 W. Broadwav
Suite 202

Glendale,CA912W
1818)243-0313

Spectrum HoloU.vte
2061 Challenger l>nve
AJameda. CA M501
(415 1 5^-3584

Stivteeii' Simulations, Inc.
1046 North Rengstorff .Kveaae
Mountain View. CA 94043
14151964-1353

Subl>ugic

501 Kenvon Drive

Champaign, IL 61820

1217)359-8482

more note of interest: representatives ol'
the U.S. Air Force are currently examin-
ing Fakon as a possible low-cost flight
trainer for their pilots. If they think this
product can be used to train their people,
I'm sure it's realistic enough for the aver-
age consumer.

Coming in 1989: The Commodore 64 ver-
sion of Falcon should be on the market
early in the year,

SubLogic Corporation

(>4/128: Here's a real scoop! The long-
awaited Scenery Disk #9 will be available
to the pubhc late in the year. SubLogic pi-
lots will finally be able to fly around the
area of the midwest: St. Louis, MO; Chica-
go, IL; Springfield and Indianapolis, IN;
and Cincinnati, OH. As in the earlier sce-
nery disks, this one displays rivers, lakes,
roads, airport layouts and many interest-
ing landmarks. In fact, if you're fl>ing
over Champaign, IL you can see the
homes of SubLogic pragrammers and de-
velopment people beneath you (as well as
the actual location of the company itself).
Like the other iastallments in the series,
Scenery Disk #9 is also tme to scale, easy
to use, and a source of many hours of en-
tertainment. B

Music-X

Continued from page 95

are 255 tracks available in the program
(even though most people will use 24
tracks or less).

You asked me to rate the program, so
here are ray findings: In terms of presen-
tation, I give Music-X an A+ . From what
Fve been able to extract, the program
seems to be excellent. When all is said
and done, Music-X allows you to do so-
phisticated homework that minimizes
your time in a legitimate studio (that
could cost you anywhere fitim $40 to $400
an hour) and yet maximizes your sound
quality. I'm currently using Pro MIDI, but
I would convert to Musk-X if I had a more
technical background.
Jermaine: Would you share a story about
your work in Peter, Paul and Maiy?
Stookey: The first Peter, Paul and Mary
album (titled 1449] was originally re-
leased in 1962. The material was recently
re-mixed and re-released on compact disc
this past July It's interesting to note that
the original recording was done on three
tracks because that was state-of-the-art
technology at the time. Tbday it didn't
take very long to re-mix that material,
when we only had to worry about three
tracks. IHe laughs.]

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HOW TO ENTER PROGRAMS

The programs which appear in this
magazine have been run, tested and
checked for bugs and errore. Alter a pro-
gram is tested, it is printed on a letter
quality printer with some formatting
changes. This listing is theo photo-
graphed directly and printed in the maga-
zine. Using this method ensures the most
error-free program listings possible.

Whenever you see a word inside brack-
ets, such as [DOWN I, the word represents
a keystroke or series of keystrokes on the
keyboard. The word [DOWN] would be
entered by pressing the cui"sor-down key.
If multiple keystrokes are required, the
number will directly follow the word. For
example, [D0WN4J would mean to press
the cursor-dowTi key four times. If there
are multiple words within one set of
brackets, enter the keystrokes directly
after one another. For example, [DOWN,
RIGHT2] would mean to press the cursor-
down key once and then the cursor-right
key twice. Note: Do not enter the commas.

In addition to these graphic symbols,
the keyboard graphics are all represented
by a word and a letter. The word is either
SHFT or CMD and represents the SfflFT
key or the Commodore key. The letter is
one of the letters on the keyboard. The
combination [SHFT E[ would be entered
by holding down the SHIFP key and
pressing the E. A number following the
letter tells you how manv times to type
the letter. For example, [SHFT A4.CMD
B3[ would mean to hold the SHIFT key
and press the A four times, then hold
down the Commodore key and press the
B three times.

The following chart tells you the keys to
press for any word or words inside of

brackets. Refer to this chart whenever you

aren't sure what keys to press. The little
graphic next to the keystrokes shows you
what you will see on the screen.

SYNTAX ERROR

This is by far the most common error
encountered while entering a program.
Usually (sorry folks) this means that you
have typed something incorrectly on the
line the syntax error refers to. If you get
the message "?Syntax Error Break In
Line 270", tj-pe LIST 270 and press
RETURN. This mil list line 270 to the
screen. Look for any non-obvious mis-
takes like a zero in place of an or vice-
versa. Check for semicolons and colons re-
versed and extra or missing parenthesis.
All of these things will cause a syntax
error.

There is only one time a syntax error
will tell you the "wrong" line to look at. If
the line the sjTitax error refers to has a
function call (i.e., FN A(3)), the sjTitax
error may be in the line that defines the
fimction, rather than the line named in
the error message. Look for a line near
the beginning of the progi'am (usually)
that has DEF FN AiX) in it with an equa-
tion following it. Look for a typo in the
equation part of this definition,

ILLEG.\L QUANTITY ERROR

This is another common eiTor message.
This can also be caused by a typing error,
but it is a little harder to find. Once again,
list the line number that the enxir mes-
sage refers to. There is probably a poke
statement on this line. If there is, then the
error is referring to what is trying to be
poked. A number must be in the range of

H"|HOME!'* = UNSHnTED CUV HOME

n "ICLEAB!- "SHIFTED CLP/HOME
H ■■[DOWNl" = CURSORDOWN

n ■■1UP|'-=CUHS0RUP
n ■lEUGHTl" =CURSOR RIGHT

n "ILEFTl'-CUHSOR LEFT
R ■■[RVS1-=C0NTB0L9

I "|RVOFF]'- = CONTHOLa
EI ■■lEl.ACKr=CONTRQL 1

[1 -IWHrrEl'- = CONTROL 2
Rj -IREDl'^ CONTROL 3

y '|CYANr = C0NTF,0L4

n ■|PURPLE|" = CONTROL 5

n IGREENI'" CONTROLS
R •■lBLUEl-= CONTROL 7

H ■•[YELLOWr- = CONTROL 8
n lORANCEl-^COMMODORE 1

I] "[BROWN]" -COMMODORE 2
n "IL REDI"- COMMODORE 3

n '{GRAYir'-COMMODORE-l
Q "(GRA¥2|" = C0MM0D0RE 5

II • |L GREENI"- COMMODORE 6
n^lLBLUEr' -COMMODORE 7

2 inr'=Fi
g-iF2r-=n

g"[F31-=F3
E •■|F4| • = F4

[|"[F5r' = F5

O iFer-FB

|"[F7r=F7
n ■•[F3|"=FB

^■IPOUND|- = ENGLISH
POUND
Q ISHFT 'I ■ = ?[ SYMBOL

fflri" = UPABROW

IGRAYSl" = COMMODORE 3

GRAPHIC SYMBOLS WILL BE REPRESENTED AS EITHER THE LETTERS
SHFT (SHIFT) AND A KEY ("[SHFT Q.SHFT J.SHFT D.SHFT S]") OR THE
LETTERS CMDR (COMMODORE) AND A KEY ("[CMDR Q.CMDR
G.COMDR Y.CMDR Hj"). IF A SYMBOL IS REPEATED, THE NUMBER OF
REPITITIONS WILL BE DIRECTLY AFTER THE KEY AND BEFORE THE
COMMA ("[SPACES, SHFT S4,CMDR M21").

zero to 255 to be poke-able. For example,
the statement POKE 1024,260 would pro-
duce an illegal quantity error because 260
is greater than 25.5.

Most often, the value being poked is a
variable (A,X,.,). This error is telling you
that this variable is out of range. If the
variable is being read from data state-
ments, then the problem is somew'here in
the data statements. Check the data
statements for missing commas or other
typos.
If the variable is not coming from data
: statements, then the problem will be a lit-
I tie harder to find. Check each line that
contains the variable for typing mistakes.

OUT OF DATA ERROR

This error message is always related to
the data statements in a program. If this
error occurs, it means that the program
has run out of data items before it was
supposed to. It is usually caused by a prob-
lem or typo in the data statements. Check
' first to see if you have left out a whole line
of data. Next, check for missing commas
between numbers. Reading data fitim a
page of a magazine can be a strain on the
brain, so use a ruler or a piece of paper or
anything else to help you keep track of
where you are as you enter the data.

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